Hello Family and Friends! Our sincerest apologies for not having posted for a while. There have been some changes in this Groenewold household in the past couple weeks.
I (Abby) am on my way to getting the much needed "life" things of a BC Permanent Resident. I have my SIN number and card, am in the process of getting my BC drivers license, am waiting on my PR Card in the mail, and am figuring out the process I need to go through to finally get my BC medical status figured out. Some days have been frustrating, but it's exciting to be making progress in the areas. I'm thankful for the blessing of having some of these things taken care of and finalized.
Another new thing for Jesse and myself - we are now worship leaders at our church! For those of you who don't know, Jesse and I are attending a small church plant in the Marpole area of Vancouver called Cornerstone Community Church. It's a small congregation - only about 2 dozen people on any given Sunday - but we're glad to call it our church home and our church family.
It seems as though many people in the Christian Reformed Church (as well as others) have been gifted musically, and I've always been a part of a congregation that has numerous talented singers, pianists, guitarists, and other instramentalists; but our church now is an exception to that. They are a passionate body of worshippers, but their musical resources were lacking. Our Pastor was leading singing with recorded music on a flashdrive plugged into a keyboard. Now our worship team has grown to 4 members!: Pastor Keon, myself, Jesse, and our new friend Richard, who recently started coming with his wife, Maria. I volunteered to help lead singing, and Jesse graciously stepped up to help; Richard plays guitar, and now Pastor Keon is able to hand over the reins to us in a sense, and focus on other very important things. Jesse is now welcoming the congregation to worship each Sunday, reading Bible passages, and leading the congregation in prayer, as well as singing every Sunday morning. I make the power point presentation and co-lead singing every week. It's been such a joy for me to be involved in leading worship through singing again. I didn't realize how much I missed it until recently. Jesse has been taken a little outside his comfort zone in these new rolls, but it is so awesome to see him growing through this service he has taken upon himself by the grace of God.
We've also been busy working out our summer plans - and it looks like things are going to be pretty eventful starting this month! My parents are coming to visit in about a week and a half, which I am really looking forward to. Mom and Dad Groenewold are coming to the mainland sometime in the middle of next week as well (I think) so we're really looking forward to seeing them too! The next weekend we are going to PASSION 2012 here in Vancouver. For Easter we are going to be driving south to Hilsboro, Oregon and staying with my sister, brother-in-law and niece. It appears as though we'll have a slower month in May. In June, we'll celebrate our first anniversary, and then we'll head out to Minnesota to see two of our best friends get married. In July one of my other best friends is making a road trip up the west coast from California with a friend, and their going to be spending a few days with us, and then in early August we'll fly out to Colorado to see my brother and his fiance, Alli, get married! After that, we will join two more friends for vacation in Steamboat Springs, CO. It will be eventful, and even a bit crazy at times, but we're thankful for God's faithfulness and his blessings to us.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading! Rest in the grace that we have been given through Christ Jesus, who mediates between us and the Father.
