Category: Uncategorized

YYG <->YYZ

Published August 23, 2019

On Saturday, July 10, 2019, my dad texted me about his not feeling well. He had had some medication changes earlier in the week, and we both somewhat expected a few symptoms. Just before church the next morning, I received another text that he had gone to the hospital overnight with unusual symptoms. I spoke with my aunts later that afternoon, and decided to hop on a flight from Charlottetown to Toronto that night. Praise the LORD there was room on the flight!

I ended up spending the next four days at Grand River Hospital with my dad. The immediate concern was the possibility of a stroke — but an MRI quickly ruled that out. His symptoms were odd: described by the doctor as choreiform movements. In the absence of a stroke or a hereditary disease, the doctor suspected an issue with medication. It turns out my dad had been on an unusually high doses of various medications for years. A recent change in those medications seems to have kicked off something akin to withdrawal symptoms.

Among others, we were visited that week by Pastor Snell and Bruce Wallace from First Baptist Church, along with my cousins Greg & Amanda and two of their children. The Littles are on a brief furlough before returning to full-time ministry in St. Lucia.

I remain incredibly thankful for the flexibility afforded me as a lead software engineer with Mattermost. I spent part of my week working on the hospital wifi, but also had the flexibility to reorganize my schedule and take time off to be there for my dad. I’m also so very thankful for family like the Lapointes who not only let me crash at their place but lent me their sporty Hundai Veloster. It was nice to drive manual again 🙂

The wonderful medical team took care of my dad until he was sent home on the Thursday with a plan to eliminate these drugs altogether. After making some additional arrangements, I flew home later that night in time to celebrate Kathyrn’s 1st birthday on Friday.

Funny story. My flight from Pearson landed after midnight, so it wasn’t an option for Charity to come with the kids to pick me up. As various people stood waiting for a taxi, one of the drivers asked me where I was headed. “Bonshaw,” I replied. He looked at me quizzically and asked, “Bonshaw?” Nobody was headed that way, but one driver offered to take me there after dropping off another passenger downtown. As I entered the vehicle, he casually mentioned downtown and Bonshaw, and the passenger immediately proclaimed, “Bonshaw!?” As we started heading down the road, the driver notified his team over the radio. Sure enough, over the crackly speaker, I heard a reply: “BONSHAW?!!” With a smile on my face, I explained our family story. It’s good to be home.

July 2019

Published July 31, 2019

I can’t count the number of times Charity or I have said to each other: we should write a blog post about that! In some ways, this delay has been intentional: lest we post only in search of “likes and comments” on yet another social media quest. Our goal is rather to fellowship with you from a distance and glory in all that God is accomplishing in our lives.

July marks our very first whole month on Prince Edward Island. We certainly expected “different” weather, but it was still a bit surprising to feel “cold” early in the month. Perhaps it was the same in Ontario, but for a while it seemed to us that the rain would never end and that perhaps summer wasn’t officially recognized on the island.

Complicating things for us “city folks” were the insects: June bugs smashing into the window in the evenings, never-ending mosquitos invading the house when the doors are left open, and black flies leaving us bleeding from unexpected bites. As near as we can tell, this has been an unusually bad year for insects on the island — perhaps, in part, due to the excessive rains, but also the reduced bat population along the east coast from the white-nose syndrome epidemic. On the flip side, the spiders here are abundant and very effective!

The LORD knew we might find change to be a bit difficult, and prepared a flurry of friends and family to visit with us this month. We enjoyed spending time with our friends from Quebec, friends on sabbatical and from First Baptist Church, friends on vacation from Charity’s childhood, and even a visit from Grandma herself! Not to mention how much of a blessing it has been to be in regular fellowship with the Stiff family once again.

We’ve also been incredibly blessed to enjoy new friends and church family over the past few weeks. We welcomed our new piano teacher and her family to our home (not to mention enjoying a most incredible roast beef dinner thanks to our new Instant Pot). We enjoyed six young people following the Lord in believer’s baptism — in the ice-cold, muddy Bonshaw River! And our landlord and landlady blessed Charity and Anne with tickets to the Anne of Green Gables Musical.

Anne & Charity before the musical.

Of course, none of this can really make up for the friends and family we left behind. Yet it is a comfort to know that we can never leave God behind!

Among other events, we celebrated Alfred’s 4th birthday, Anne’s 9th birthday, and Charity’s … birthday. We made our first trip back across the bridge to make a Costco run and visit our favourite restaurant in Moncton: Gusto Italian Grill & Bar. Charity and Anne met the governor general at a music event in Charlottetown. Oh, and we welcomed three new, as-of-yet-unnamed additions to the family: Barred Plymouth Rock laying hens. Christopher was thrilled to collect his first few eggs! Now if only we can convince them to lay inside the coop,

Anne’s portion of the birthday custard.
Anne and Her Honour Antoinette Perry
First two eggs!

Of course, summer did arrive on the island, though tempered somewhat by the ocean breezes. I’m thankful we didn’t hit Ontario highs out here, as I’m not sure we would have been able to survive without air conditioning! The weather was perfect for various beach outings.

Our hunt for a home and property of our own continues, having secured the help of an ex-software developer turned realtor who actually understands me when I describe my bandwidth requirements to continue working remotely! I’ve been making connections with some tech-savvy islanders to shed some light on the rural Internet situation here. I may just hold out for Starlink and the like to change everything!

What’s next? Kathryn turns 1 next month, and I take one more bold step towards the mid-thirties. But the reality is that we don’t yet know all of God’s plans for us here yet. How could we?

4 Lord, make me to know mine end,
and the measure of my days, what it is;
that I may know how frail I am.
5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth;
and mine age is as nothing before thee:
verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew:
surely they are disquieted in vain:
he heapeth up riches,
and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for?
my hope is in thee.
Psalm 39:4-7

Until next time!

Jesse, Charity, Anne, Christopher, Alfred & Kathryn Hallam

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Lambchop & Molasses

Published July 3, 2019

Introducing the two newest members of our family: Lambchop & Molasses.

This particular adventure actually started the day after we arrived, when the kids woke us up exclaiming, “The sheep are coming today!”

We knew there was the potential to care for some sheep on the property, but both we (and our landlord!) were surprised how quickly that materialized. Thanks to the kindness of a family in our new local church, we now wake up in the morning to release the sheep into a half-acre of grass, and coax them back into the barn at night with some molasses and oats.

They honestly don’t require much maintenance. Kathryn bubbles with delight whenever she sees them — or any other animal for that matter — and the older kids love feeding them leaves from the apple tree. That beign said, Alfred came in the other day crying his eyes out and screaming, “Lambchop tried to eat me!” He had gone to feed Lambchop (the male, white-faced one) some leftover pieces of apple, but it seems Lambchop was more interested in nibbling at Alfred’s yellow shirt. The friendship has since been restored!

In our last update, we hinted at seeing the start of changes within our family. As Paul puts it:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Indeed, we know these changes are for the better, but not all of them have been pleasant. Moving away from our friends and family, our church and neighbourhood communities, and even the familiarity of our local farmers market: all of this change hasn’t been easy.

It’s almost as if we pushed a giant “reset” button in our lives, turning all the lights back on and showcasing those weaknesses that had just disappeared in the noise of a busy life. We’re actually rather glad for all of this. Just as a tree bears more fruit after it has been pruned, so we look to the LORD to use us more effectively as a result of these trials.

Pray simply that we would not tire of the challenge, but rise to the occasion, set aside any distractions, and fulfill God’s plan and purpose here in this new place. Each of us need the LORD to keep us on the straight and narrow way, and we’re so grateful to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for making that possible!

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6

“Go New Places”

Published June 15, 2019

On Wednesday, June 12, a moving truck from AMJ Campbell showed up with three of the nicest movers we’ve ever met. No offence to all you wonderful people who have helped us move over the years, but they brought their own truck, did all the heavy lifting, and required no pizza afterwards!

Let’s rewind a little bit.

Friday, May 31 saw Charity and the children helping to close out the final Super 60’s of the year.

On Saturday, June 1, we enjoyed all of our friends and family who came to our open house. In an attempt to make this day fun and exciting (instead of somber and depressing because we were leaving), Charity came up with the idea of buying a helium tank + balloon kit from Costco. It seemed to work! We also praise the LORD for overriding the weather that day and holding off the rain for all the kids to enjoy being outside with the balloons, bubbles, and chalk.

Sunday, June 2nd we said goodbye to our church family. Or, rather, our church family said goodbye to us — circumstances prevented us from being physically in the auditorium that Sunday morning, but I think Pastor Andy said some nice words. God knew what we needed at the time, though we were disappointed not to be in the room.

The week following saw us beginning to pack, but the effort only really began in earnest once I wrapped up my work week. Four straight days of packing and re-packing commenced, including Kijiji sales, a garage sale, dump runs, and a last minute effort to sell our upright piano to avoid the associated moving costs. (Spoiler: it’s presently on its way to PEI!)

Notwithstanding the usual difficulties between siblings, our children were amazing throughout those days of packing and moving. Anne stepped up to take a bigger part in caring for Kathryn, and even Kathryn seemed to understand that something big was afoot. I think she’ll be a hardier little girl as a result..

When all was said and done, the house in which we’ve built a home over the past seven years stood empty.

Three days of travelling, and we once again sit in the dining room in which we started this blog almost a month ago. It hasn’t all been fun. We’ve shed more than a few tears over more than a few trials. We’ve put 1800km between some of our closest friends and families — there’s no easy solution to that.

As we wrestled with these difficulties, Charity reminded me that just as we can trust God to open doors, so too can we trust Him to close them. We thus conclude that this remains God’s will for our lives at this time. How long we cannot know. Yet, as we had hoped, changes are already happening within our family. More on that another day.

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Austin, Texas

Published May 31, 2019

This past week, I had the privilege of attending Percona Live, an open-source database conference held in Austin, Texas this year. It’s always tough leaving Charity and the kids behind, but I do enjoy the adventure of going somewhere entirely new!

I won’t bore you with the technical details of the conference, but let me share a few pictures instead.

Outside of the conference, I had the opportunity to enjoy traditional Texas BBQ and Mexican dishes. I was also staying right next to the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, and took the opportunity to view the bats — as hard as it was to actually see them at dusk. One minor regret: I didn’t take advantage of the many scooters around town!

As I was walking to dinner Wednesday night and enjoying the beauty of the many mature trees planted along the sidewalk, I came across a sad scene. I didn’t think to take a picture, but before me was a tree cut down to just a gnarly stump in the ground. Surrounded by its healthy peers, the following verse came to mind:

Give not thy strength unto women,
nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Proverbs 31:3

This verse comes from the final chapter of Proverbs, and complements the many verses warning a man to remain faithful to the wife of his youth and avoid the destruction that comes from laciviousness. The image of this tree before me contrasted with the the imagery of the opening chapter of the Psalms:

¹Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
²But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
³And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1:1-3

I give God the glory for blessing me with the wife of my youth and — by His grace — preserving my strength and prospering my ways!

In Christ,
Jesse

We’re home!?

Published May 25, 2019

for I have learned, in whatsoever [province] I am, therewith to be content.
Phil 4:11b

On our way to PEI last week, we took the trip slowly, leaving Monday after our homeschool coop, and spending the night with wonderful relatives in the Ottawa area. Tuesday was our longest stretch of driving, staying a hotel in New Brunswick. Wednesday left just four hours to drive to our rental home, making for a light drive and plenty of sunlight to unpack and explore our new surroundings.

This week, on our return to Waterloo, we really just wanted to “get the trip over with”. It’s not that we regretted having to return, but merely that we didn’t look forward to another three days in the Honda Odyssey after only a week on the island. Towards that end, we left Thursday night at 4:30 PM ADT and arrived Friday morning at 11:30 AM EDT. Given Google Maps estimates the drive at around 17.5 hours, doing it in 20 hours is pretty efficient!

Naturally, we’re now exhausted, but it’s been our pleasure to spend time with “adopted family” visiting for the weekend. There’s something special about God piecing together two unrelated trips to bless us with encouragement, good conversation, and a competitive game of Rook!

We are still excited about the move, but still uncertain given everyone and everything we are leaving behind. If God hadn’t been so clearly involved in planning this adventure, we’d have given up a long time ago. For now, we walk by faith, waiting for His next step in taking us to PEI for however long He wishes. Pray that we would remain faithful and trusting, and especially that we could be a blessing to those among whom we will find ourselves.

In Christ,
Jesse, Charity, Anne, Christopher, Alfred & Kathryn

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