GASP!! An update...

I'm sure some of you think I've fallen off the face of the planet, but in reality, life has just been filled with changes. Some of those I'm at liberty to discuss, some I don't care to, and some would just make me sound like a very petty, immature person. So...let's move on to more delightful topics.

September will be a month of evaluating where things are for The Common Place; don't misunderstand me--that doesn't mean things are bad. It simply means we are seeing where we are and what our future is once Christopher and Shannon return to the States. Wilson and his energy have been missed, and Shannon has been a fantastic addition to our family this summer. Christopher sure knew how to keep us laughing. But come September, the three of us (plus Hayden) have to take a serious look at how we plan to continue reaching not only our immediate neighborhood, but Coquitlam.

My parents (the Nana and Papa) just stopped for their first visit. My mom arrived about 9 PM Monday night, and my dad flew into Seattle Wednesday mid-morning on his way home from a work trip in Japan and then drove up. So it was closer to about 1 PM before we saw him. We had a full day with my mom Tuesday to show her where we live and our "hang-outs," then we hung out at home and chilled while David had football practice. Wednesday was a late breakfast at IKEA, a bit more sight-seeing around Coquitlam and then waiting on dad to arrive for a late lunch/early supper. By the time we showed him the area, his jet lag was severely starting to set in, so we called it a night. Thursday was Whistler; well, more the drive up because by the time we actually got to Whistler, we had just enough time to eat a late lunch and check out a bit before we needed to head back for David's football practice. Hayden, mom and dad and I killed time at IKEA across the street from the practice field. Friday was downtown and Stanley Park and then mom and dad left mid-afternoon for Seattle to stay overnight for an early Saturday morning flight.

The staggered arrival times made doing everything we really wanted impossible. It was still a great week, though, and now I seriously need to clean again! Hayden did not want Nana and Papa to leave. I think he acquired eight new airplanes this past week thanks to them! We are working on a visit to the Gulf Coast with a special surprise for Hayden thrown in. Hayden has mentioned a few times that he misses our house, but overall, he seems to really like living here in Canada.

In some ways, it feels as though we've been here forever. But there are times I'm greatly reminded that we're still finding our way. Hopefully, it won't be as long before I update again!

What's New with the Ainsworths!

(This is a large portion of our most recent newsletter that went out. For those of you that didn't get it, here's what's going on in Coquitlam. This was written by David in case third person references made you wonder!)

"Our apartment here is about as much of home as this particular apartment will be. We know we are only in this one for just a year so we haven’t gone overboard on decorating but Jamie has done a great job of making it feel like home for the season that we are here.

Hayden is really starting to finally find a routine. We had a rough few weeks there, but we made some changes and put more of a structure in for him and it seems to have done the trick. Jamie has found some awesome learning activities for him to do each day so everyday when he wakes up now he wants to do “school” so Jamie spends the first couple of hours each day teaching him, doing crafts with him, and just spending some time just the two of them. It is really cool to see him glow with pride as he completes crafts and certain tasks. We have a pretty smart little boy and I am so thankful he has a great mom that takes time to help him sharpen his mind everyday.
    
      On the church front things are moving along. We have had 2 teams come through to spend time with us. The first was First Baptist of Biloxi. They were here around the middle of July and they helped us prayer walk our ministry area, and then came back another afternoon to put on a Family Fun Day. We had to scale things back quite a bit at the direction of the city, but we had a really great turn out here in our local park that the whole city uses. It is an awesome facility and I think many of the FBC Biloxi crew got a little jealous that we get to use that as a place of ministry. We also had a college group from Heart of Life Church in Kansas City come through. They spent a week with us and we did a day of service projects in the City Centre area, we served at a local Christian Based Drug Rehab Center, a local food bank/soup kitchen, and they spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the same park FBC Biloxi did the Family Fun Day. Our goal is to be consistently out and about in the community, and they did a great job continuing the work that we had already started when we first arrived.

We are going through a stage of learning, planning, and discerning God’s call for where we go next. We started a very informal gathering on Wednesday night and we just need to know what direction to go with that. One of our biggest needs right now is a core group of people to come along side us and help us. One of our interns has already returned home to Mississippi. Wilson did a great job for us this summer; he is an energizer bunny and I don’t think he ever runs out of energy. He was such a blessing because he was a self starter; many of the relationships that have been formed at the park are due to his consistency and willingness to be all things to all people. I am so proud of the guy he has turned out to be and can’t wait to hear what God will do with his life going forward. For now he is back at Mississippi College and I know God is using him on that campus. He was a huge help and a vital part to every single thing we have done this summer.

     As the summer is coming to a close things will probably not slow down much for us. I am coaching a football team here; it is nowhere close to American football and definitely nowhere close to football played in Mississippi, but it has been really cool to connect with my fellow coaches and the players on our team. Being from an area where football is king to so many, it’s almost like I became an instant go-to guy for questions and things. I am praying and seeking for ways to expand my role there with some possible bible study huddles or something. I am not sure what will happen if anything so please join me in prayer for open doors there if God wants me to be used in that capacity with the football league here.

     Adjusting has gone well overall. We are so confident of our call here, but we do miss all of you and having the ability to just call and get together at a moment’s notice. Life here is very different. It looks alot like home, but it is amazing how refreshing it is for us to drive 45 minutes and go to Washington to go grocery shopping or something. Believe it or not, we have found we save so much money by doing that; we do not do it very often, but when we are doing a big shopping trip, it is worth is to drive over the border to get what we need.

     We still have many prayer needs that need to be addressed. God has blessed us so much throughout this journey so we do not doubt His power and His timing in making things happen. We are still working on Jamie’s Visa issue. The Association here is helping us get it all worked out so that she can seek a tutoring position or something to help make ends meet. We know and God knows exactly when it will be an absolute necessity for there to be some external income coming in and we have full confidence that she will either find something or God would raise up more financial partners to help us make this ministry possible.

     Another prayer need of ours is just that the transition/seeking stage that we are in at The Common Place would be one that makes us stronger. We are definitely seeking the Lord for direction on some things and it is my prayer that HIS plan become what is important and nothing else. This community around us is a great one: awesome people, open minds, and big hearts. We just have to figure out the best way to serve those people and help them see the truth, love, happiness, and life that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to be ready to move and we need people around us to help us move. Pray for both of those things if you would.

     Lastly I will just say that we miss all of you. Please know that our doors are always open for a visit. I hope that finances will allow us to come back home either for Christmas or Thanksgiving and we will get to see many of you but anytime you may want to venture to Vancouver, let us know and we will be happy to host you. Please lift us up in prayer. Some days are tougher than others and sometimes it is definitely lonely, but the power of your prayers is what will help keep us plugging along. I am trying to figure out the easiest way to send out another email with some pictures from what has happened so far so be on the lookout for that. For now I will wrap it up. We love you all. Keep praying for us."

Not a Scrapbooker

I am not a scrapbooker (much to my husband's dismay). I stole an idea from a friend who is also not a scrapbooker: rather than try to make folders or big books of all the fabulous artwork and events and vacations she and her children participated in, she used boxes. I grabbed empty totes that I had (nothing too huge) and stored Hayden's important milestone papers, artwork, items to reminiscence over (when my baby boy is HUGE! and gone; tear...), etc. I've done this for two years now: one for his birth through first year of "school" and the second one for his second year of school (ages 2/3). I love it because I can go back through the boxes that I've marked and ooh! and ahh! over each piece, and I did my best to date his artwork. I do not print pictures and put them in books like my grandparents did (again, not my thing and we have this awesome thing called technology, so I usually only print the pictures I really want to display or else I whip out my handy smartphone and just show him off that way!).

Now that we're in Canada and I'm getting to be a stay-at-home mom for a bit, I find myself missing picking him up from school and all his fabulous creations. And thanks to Pinterest, I have found some great ideas, while others have left me feeling like a mother who is not involved enough (sigh). I know there's no way to do everything I find, and when we either have or adopt another baby, I want to be able to do similar things to remember these sweet, sweet "baby" years. There are definitely pictures, art projects, memories, etc. I wish we'd done with Hayden. But I'm trying to not let it be too late for other ideas. For Christmas 2011, we made gifts for everyone from Hayden. I've already found the project I want to do this year. In fact, we'll probably get started soon. I just love being able to give gifts that may not be able to be used but are given for their sentimental value. Hopefully, it shows we've put more thought and time into our gifts than "Oh, look! It's another tie." or whatever habits we fall into with gift giving. (And no, I'm not sharing what we're doing this year as many family members tend to read this. If you're not family and you're curious, let me know!)

I'm definitely trying to mark the holidays or other important days with projects Hayden and I create. I remember holidays as times where my sister and I spent hours with our mom in the kitchen making way too many sweets and Chex Mix and yummy goodness. Hayden loves art projects and he helped me make quite a few last year--you can see our footprint turkeys on Facebook if you're really interested. I want him to remember growing up as a time where mom sat down with him and made stuff (even if my OCD nature craves perfection and his toddler/little boy personality does not!); I can't always take him where I want to (ie., Disney now). But we can make memories like I have planned for next week--a morning at the sprinkler park four blocks away with a picnic lunch; movie dates at home with mom with dad is at football practice; a photo scavenger hunt of various shapes.

So now, if you've read this far, you might be scratching your head wondering how my not being a scrapbooker ties into all the mumbo jumbo you just deciphered. Well, here's our big project #1: a handprint/footprint ABC book. This will be something he can look back at when he's older and I'll have to cherish always. Once we finish the alphabet, I plan to venture into the months, seasons, holidays (as they come up) and numbers. Google some of this stuff and see what you find. It's overwhelming!

See what I mean?! Some of this I stumbled across accidentally. I'm creating a binder with sections for all of our handprint/footprint art. I can't wait to see how all of this turns out. Happy creating, everyone!

Know us by our fruits

If I was honest with myself (and the humble few that read my ramblings), I have felt more like myself in the last week-two than I have since we got here. Now I do understand that anyone would probably feel "off" moving to a new country. Yes, my new country is just north of my old country and many of the things here are quite similar to America, but it still feels different. I'm finally learning my way around, I know street names!, and I can drive comfortably to just about anywhere.

Maybe having Pia (our exchange student who lived with us for five months 18 months ago) with us is helping. It feels as though she never left! We have done quite a few touristy/sight-seeing things with her here, so maybe getting out of the apartment more has had an impact. Maybe it's having the First Baptist Biloxi mission trip team here, so it feels like "home" has come to Vancouver. It was awesome to see so many recognizable, smiling faces on Monday afternoon!!

The gray skies have a big impact on my attitude. I just want to sleep! I'm a little worried about the winter due to all the rain and dreariness, so I'm trying to enjoy our "dry" season right now. Our community pool is heated, so even on cool 60/70 degree temp days, Hayden and I can still venture to the clubhouse/pool and meet families. We have some other avenues we're exploring for us to meet moms/families. David has stepped up searching out volunteer and plug-in opportunities. He's also coaching middle school-age football. We're trying to get ourselves out into the community and learn where people are. As those who journey here find out, the majority are not interested in God or religion. Many, many families/individuals have more money than they know what to do with, so they feel they don't need anything, least of all a God they can't see.

Matthew 7:15-20 says,    15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“So then, you will know them by their fruits."

We desire for those we meet to know us by our fruits. As odd as this may sound to some, we don't walk around the streets 24/7 toting our Bibles or stand on street corners preaching. We are meeting people where they are. We are loving on our neighbors (or neighbours) one at a time. Sometimes I feel like those reading my FB statuses may see that Hayden and I are at the park or pool or doing something else and think we're not making any impact. We are, I assure you! This is not the Bible-believing, everyone-goes-to-church-regardless-of-what-I-say-Monday-to-Friday-and-do-on-Saturday-night South. We've had to find our way in this city and understand where we can best fit in. It is a little difficult to explain. We have to SHOW people that they need Him; that's difficult when they have EVERYTHING else they could possibly need or want.

Our neighbors know we're here. And not just because of the noise we make! They've seen our interns in action, they know we're church planters/missionaries. When our downstairs neighbor that we met at the pool asked if we were missionaries, she knew exactly why we were here. And yes, she's a Christian but she was receptive and open to establishing a relationship with us.

I'll close with this: I told David one night that the biggest change for me was adjusting to the fact that everywhere we've been, we've met our friends through church. Here, we are the church. We're having to meet fellow Christians without the aid of Sunday School or morning worship services. And it's been possible. However, we are meeting lots of unbelievers and we must form relationships with them. And sometimes that means not making the first thing I say to them, "Are you a Christian?!" I have to say, "Hi, I'm Jamie and this is Hayden. Would you like to arrange a play date or get together for dessert/coffee sometime?" We have to be open and be ourselves and our fruits will tell them why we're here.

One Month In

Whew! We’ve now been in Canada for over a month. How can that be!? Pia is here from Germany for two weeks and she and Shannon have gotten along well. Hayden is definitely enjoying have two beautiful ladies in the house to entertain. Starting very soon, I’m going to begin a pretty strict routine for Hayden and me. We both need it. 
 

We have met some pretty great people here. The funny thing is, they’ve all been Christians! In such a dark city, everyone we’ve met thus far and formed relationships with knows Jesus. That has helped this Momma’s heart. Daddy is coaching middle school football and his other assistant coach is a Christian. Nathan and his wife, Cassandra, have 3 children and another due this month. They had us over for a cook-out last Sunday. Hayden and their 2 ½ year old Jeremy got along fantastically. They played with water guns until they dropped.! I see their family being fast and good friends. I took a banana pudding (and secretly, they admitted they wished we had brought sweet tea, too!) that they scarfed down. I'm serious. Recipe has already been shared! 

Yesterday we went to Whistler, sight of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Olympic Village. Hayden pronounced it “Whist-a-ler” every time. Pia, Shannon, and David saw one bear and got a picture, but Hayden and I didn't make it in time. We have some other sightseeing activities planned before I post my thousands of pictures. 

I’ve had to start jotting down things Hayden says or does so I’ll remember to record them in his journal Whenever we go to Wal-Mart, there’s a mountain fairly close. And every time he remarks, “That’s the biggest mountain ever I seen!” It’s just so comical the order of his words!

Last week Hayden hid David's computer cord. After an hour of searching and him being in time out until he could remember where it was, I noticed one of his tool boxes that he never closes was closed. Sure enough, there it was! As soon as we showed Hayden we had found it, he shrugged his shoulders, put a dimpled smile on his face, and said something adorable to the tune of, “See? It was there for a reason.” Off he trotted to your room, happy-go-lucky, while David and I couldn’t decide whether to stay mad or just laugh.

“Stupid” is a bad word in our home. But Hayden's way of saying it without thinking there will be repercussions is to just spout off, “I didn’t say ‘stupid!’” And then we all look at him because no one accused him of saying it but he wants to say it so badly he finds ways to incorporate it.

We also met two of our 3^rd floor neighbors directly beneath us: Justice and his mother, Erin. We had a nice time at the pool and I repeatedly apologized for the noise we’ve made. We have a rotating door most days with 3 interns, and Hayden's still not quite used to apartment living. However, if I say we’re going “home” when we’re out somewhere, he'll quip back, “No! We’re going to the apartment!”

Oh, here are a few local things I’ve observed that I want to remember to share when people ask what it’s like living here:

-Common phrases: “No worries.” “Cheers” “Eh?” (of course) “For sure.” “Ya.”

-You have to pay to use shopping carts at most places. It’s usually a quarter or a dollar. You do get it back, but we have a hard time remembering to take change with us!

-There are no refills on pop at many locations. And for those that do offer “bottomless pop,” drinks are usually $3, instead of a typical $1.89 in MS. When we do eat out, which is rare, it’s water for us!

-Walking to most places, including the grocery store and mall! So different! And taking cloth bags with us; many grocery stores charge $.5/bag. That can really add up, especially when you’re paying recycling fees as well.

-No AC in our home. Right now, we’re in our hottest months, which are still a breath of fresh air compared to MS summers, but the apartment gets still at times. Since we’re on the corner, we get quite a bit of sunshine and that heats the apartment up, even with our standing fans, by the time we head to bed.

-Football is an afterthought sport; not the be-all/end-all for many Southern/SEC families.

-Sunshine in the summer until almost 10 PM; winter is going to be very dark, however.

-The landscape is so different. I can stare at the mountains every day. And driving just a few feet or miles changes the view of the same peak.

It’s amazing how so many things are similar to “home” (stores, restaurants, places to go, etc.), but it’s still somehow so different. I’m glad Hayden is exposed to this and seems to be loving it.

**Additional things of note to the Canadian lifestyle:

-There are very, very few to NO left turn lanes. This means traffic comes to a complete stop for someone to turn.

-If you ever need to kill time, drive through just about any neighborhood and court how many houses don't bother to take their Christmas lights down. The number is insane. -Leggings/yoga-workout pants seem to be capable of being worn with any type shirt. And I mean ANY.

Who'd have thunk?!

Who'd have thunk (yes, done on purpose) that I'd be living in metro Vancouver from small-town Mississippi waiting at Sea-Tac for our German exchange student? Just seems so odd. We have lots of visitors coming over the next few months. After that, I'll probably be in a dry spell--maybe even a tad depressed. We're starting to make some good connections in Coquitlam. Pray we find good friends soon--you know, the ones you can call at the drop of a hat. It would definitely help Canada feel like home more.

Canada Day

Ever seen "Canada Day" (July 1) on your calendar in the US and wondered what it is? I did and never bothered to look it up. It's the United States' neighbor-to-the-north's Independence Day. Fitting. Every city/community seems to put on its on own celebration. Coquitlam's reminded me of Ocean Springs' Peter Anderson Festival--except here everything but food was free. There were sections to the celebration, too. Oh, and fireworks that were supposed to be done at 10 PM; we didn't go because our little family was exhausted (my face got sunburned even with my hat and complete cloud cover--and yes, I know you can get sunburned with clouds. I'm just noting what happened.) The fireworks didn't happen here because some individuals got into the blocked-off section and couldn't be found, so the city didn't take the chance shooting the fireworks.

As for the sections of the celebration, it was odd. For example, we had a jump house (Wall-E) located in the ARTS section (random). So while everyone around us was creating pottery or paintings, kids were jumping and sliding for us. We also had a sno-cone/popcorn booth over near the skatepark. All of our proceeds from our food sales is going to a hope recovery home that helps homeless individuals prepare to re-enter society as contributing members. Wilson and Christopher (our 2 male summer missionaries) were going to man the sno-cones/popcorn because they have formed relationships with quite a few of the regulars at the skatepark. Shannon and I helped at Wall-E. When we had a break, we grabbed some lunch and ate while we walked to check on the guys. They were swamped. I mean, not just a line, but quite the crowd. So we jumped in and got a system rocking and rolling. I texted Conrad that we were helping the guys and probably weren't going to make it back to Wall-E. Our line never really stopped. That's good for the hope recovery home, and we met lots of super folks, but my back hurt so badly last night. Six hours of sno-cone/popcorn-making is a long time. It was worth it, though.

Unfortunately, it meant I didn't get to walk around and take ANY pictures to share. Let's just say there had to be a couple hundred thousand people come through (there were skating competitions, bike riding  competitions, and volleyball tournaments going on around just us; that doesn't include the Arts, Community Conservation, etc. sections that were busy as well). We estimate that Wall-E had over a thousand kids jump.

I'm not sure what you've heard about Canadians and if they're rude or what-have-you, but I would say that 95% of the people we've met are extremely friendly. And I've NEVER met so many polite children (and I'm not even just talking Asian kids). One of the things Conrad shared when we visited in December and we were driving around, is that people are hungry for community. The ironic thing is that  even though people are dying to connect with others, they surround their homes with high walls or hedges that block everyone. Yet, they want community.

I went to a ladies only BBQ Friday night and met some very unique, awesome ladies. You never know what accent you'll hear and from whom. Shannon and I met two Asian women who came to Vancouver via London and South Africa. I could've listened to them all night! We have also been going to a Coffee Connection in the clubhouse each Saturday. It's pretty much the same people, but this most recent Saturday I met the clubhouse caretaker's wife--she's from Romania and came to Vancouver via Italy. They left Italy because their young son was treated as trash because they weren't Italian. Such interesting stories!

Hayden says he enjoys living here; I'll be happy for our dry months to arrive so we don't all feel so blah. My allergies are really acting up. I still want to get out and do things at 9 PM because it looks like 6:30/7 PM in Mississippi! This morning because I was stuffy, I discovered that the sun rises about 4:45!

My visa should be sorted out this coming week or so for work, and our exchange student arrives next Saturday! We can't wait to see Pia. Wilson has visitors coming for a few days and they'll be here this Wednesday. It'll be good to see friends from church.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I can always write again. Stay cool, everyone! It seems everyone but us is in an extreme heat wave. Love you!