TRIP: Greg (moderator) going to Toronto, Canada

Are you always on the move? :-) I'll be praying.

greg and yolanda,i will be keeping you both in my prayers! have a great time up there in canada. may you both be a shining light to all... :-)in Christ,arielle"..the blessing of the Lord be upon you.." psalm 129:8

Another TRIP! [smile] And I get to a part of this one! I feel very privileged that I'll be getting to go with Greg to visit his family and friends up in Canada. I really hope that we'll be a blessing to his parents. That's one of the most important things to me concerning this trip. I'm excited about meeting Greg's sister too because I've seen how much she blesses him. I know we'll enjoy great times of fellowship with her. It will be interesting meeting Doug and his family in Rochester. It's always a pleasure getting to meet SI people in person with Greg. Thank you all for your prayers. I plan on taking some good photos too.

Yolanda,Yes. :-P We are an interesting bunch! Acutally a family of 8, soon to be 9... And you get to sleep in the room with our youngest daughter, not even two yrs old... she sleeps through the night... most of the time.. LOLIn Christ,Doug

Please pray for a smooth plane trip and also for me specifically about visa issues with the United States, pray that it will work out well so that I can come back into the country with no problems.Will be in agreement in prayer brother.

dougkristenOh, okay - I see who you are on the site now. Cool! [smile] Yes, I was very blessed by you and your family's hospitality. You have a beautiful, godly family and I loved your kids! - so full of stories and so lively! I also love how you and your wife chose Biblical names for your kids - Nathaniel, Josiah, Noah and Elijah. And Lilliana and Susana were very cute. Thank you very much for opening up your home to us! And I agree with Greg, it's been a blessing to meet some SI people in person, seeing that they are truly set a part for God.SI ViewersI'm staying at Greg's sister's house with her roommate. I'm borrowing Jen's computer right now [smile]. I just got done showing Jen's roommate, Ronelle, my online pictures of Greg and my trip to Ukraine. She's really cool. I love Greg's family too. It's been a blessing seeing him with them. I just feel so blessed to get to see where he grew up, see him so happy and excited, and see him with his family. Hee, hee... I got to see his SI headquarters, Canada too [laughs]. I'm getting more and more excited about SI's history and the vision and inspiration Greg has for it. I'm just majorly blessed. I've been praying that Greg would be as well, and I see God faithfully answering my prayers day by day. You all keep faithfully praying for Greg's trip too [smile].

Yodi you post makes me smile. It sounds like you are just bubbling over with joy.. :-)

Hi Greg and Yolanda!wow God really blessed you and guided you safely! And He is Faithful!For where His Finger points, His Hand will provide!i am praying for you two!in His LoveWilliam :-)

Thanks for your prayers. Greg and I have had a pretty packed schedule of visits. I think I've met all of Greg's family that there is to meet. On... Monday, Greg, Jenny (his sister) and I visited with their grandmother - went out to lunch with her - and then later with their half brother. It was neat for me to meet the family I've seen in pictures and have heard Greg talk about. Especially Greg's half brother who had a part in his testimony. Tuesday, Greg and I hit the road for Montreal. Let me tell you, Greg's French imitations were quite entertaining! [shaking head and laughing] How Greg found his way through Quebec with French covered road signs is a miracle to me! It was so God how we "ended" up at our destination on "accident"! We got to our meeting spot just in time where Greg's uncle and aunt greeted us. Then to Greg's surprise, his cousin showed up, and the other one joined us for dinner later. Oh my goodness - French food! We had such a lovely meal in this interesting restaurant that was all outside in this gutted out building. It was such a beautiful atmosphere. We had such a good visit as well. It was just a blessed time. Oh man, and breakfast this morning - incredible! I love how the French eat! Greg and I had fun being tourists today in Montreal. I snapped some pictures and we bought some souveneirs. The architecture was so beautiful! Downtown Montreal had such a European feel to it with cobblestone streets and beautiful churches, statues, and buildings. We had a very nice lunch next to the center of all the action. During our meal, we even had a procession of bagpipers and drummers march by. It was all quite a cultural experience and Greg and I enjoyed ourselves very much. The drive was so beautiful with lots of scenery and big skies.Though it's been a bit tiring, it's been a blessing to visit these family and friends. Continue to pray for us as we have some more visits this week. Greg and I want to be a blessing to all those we visit with. I know God can use us and wants to.

Yesterday definitely seemed like a day of God ordained meetings and visits. First, the earlier part of our day was spent touring around Toronto, getting good pictures of historic and important places and when we went to go get lunch at a nearby mall, we bumped into one of Greg's old friends from church. This, I'm sure was an answer to Greg's prayers about his upcoming transition back to life in Canada for a time. It answered my very same prayers! Before our trip, we both seriously committed it to prayer. I had a feeling, right before we came up, that God would use this vacation to get Greg excited and prepared for when he'd be coming back up, and so I prayed towards that. How faithful God is! Then we had such an awesome visit with Greg's best friend, Jason, in the evening. After visiting, enjoying dinner together and fellowshipping for awhile, Jason shared how Greg and I coming to visit was an answer to his prayers. He seemed to be right at that point in his life where he knew he needed to make the decision to fully commit his life to Christ. Greg and I had the opportunity to lay hands on him and pray for him towards the end of our late night/early morning visit. God had answered my specific prayers for that visit and it was so personally encouraging for me to see God use Greg and I as a couple to be such a good, noticable Christian example. Greg and I... I think we mostly feel that we're just normal people. So for God to use us like that - to be such a powerful impact in someone else's life - is such a blessing and encouragement!Thank you all so much for your prayers! The visits up here have been fruitful and I think God has grown Greg and I in our relationship a bit more. I know we're not going back to California tomorrow the same people that left about a week ago. God has been so faithful! Please pray for the border crossing back into the US to run smoothly for Greg, and for safe flights back to California. We plan to see Niagara Falls tomorrow too before hitting the airport. I'm sure that will be a neat experience. I can't wait to share pictures with you all. I'll let you know when those are up on the web for you guys to view.

Well, we're back from Canada. We arrived back in California late Saturday night. Niagara Falls, Canada side, was a neat experience. Greg and I went and developed my pictures from our vacation yesterday. I should have my pictures up on my Flickr photo page later today or tomorrow. Again, I'll let you all know when those are up. God answered our prayers concerning Greg being able to get back into the United States with little hassle.I've been missing Canada since I've been back ([laughs] I haven't been back long). It was a blessing to meet the family and friends that have been a part of Greg's life. I also know how to better pray for Greg as he prays and plans to go back up to Canada for a time. I know I'm here in California for the time being and don't want to take this place for granted. I know God has a plan and purpose for me right where I'm currently at... but I do have a place now in my heart for Canada. We'll see what God does.