Life Interrupted

It’s a long story – as most are when you are in your late 50’s. I will truly understand if you don’t read all of this. But if you want to know who we are and why we ended up in Australia…well, read on!

I can’t say that our life is ordinary. We have the habit of doing things unexpected and jumping into them in a big way. You wouldn’t expect that from a Petroleum Engineer and stay-at-home Mom.

Of course, we did some ordinary things, like build our first home in a great neighborhood where we socialized often with our neighbors. We went camping (in a tent) with our kids, attended church, a spent time with friends and family. 

But we also did a lot of extraordinary things.

We home-schooled our children for a few years. Reading aloud through Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” was a highlight. During that time, when our kids were 14 and 16, we backpacked through Western Europe for 8 months – probably the most impactful experience of our lives. Traveling during the year before the Euro arrived made each country a challenge of learning and discovering – never easy, but always interesting. It “broke us out of the box” as Ed likes to say.

When we returned to Canada we immediately proceeded to gut and renovate an old home – even though we had no construction experience. My (Diane) dad generously gave his time to help us and teach us.

A couple of years later we left Canada again for 6 months to attend Ellel International School of Healing and Discipleship in Surrey, England. We learned so much and connected with people from all over the world. After returning back to Canada we spent the next 2 years working as Deputy Directors for Ellel Canada West. It was another life forming experience of teaching and ministry. 

Then, in response to a long held dream, we bought a ¼ section of land, built a cabin and then started building a house and retreat center. We believe that people need time and space to reflect and rest.

But this brings us to the most recent extraordinary thing – and to the indirect purpose of this website. In 2013, in the midst of family events and crisis, a very involved church life of leadership, satisfying relationships, and an ongoing building project of large scale…

Australia.

Ed unexpectedly had an opportunity to follow his Calgary boss to Australia to work on a challenging project. Ed said to me, “Diane, what do you think…?” Well, I thought a lot of things, but mostly I wanted to see what it would be like to live in Australia – a country I had never been to or imagined living in. But we see life as an adventure and a journey, and we believe in a God who is personally with us, equipping us for this incredible journey called life. How awesome!

And so, it all happened very quickly.  Ed and I went on a mystery trip, which was really a recruitment visit.  While we were gone, our house sold and we had 4 weeks upon our return to sell, give away, and pack up our belongings.  We also had to clean, pack up and move my daughter’s stuff out of her apartment. Plus, there were masses of paperwork, and details – and people had to be told.  Probably a lot of shocked friends and family.  Us too!

Anyway, here we are.  The time has flown by. The expected 3 years in Australia has turned into almost 6 years. We have made good friends, found a good church, and lived in nice places. The time has gone quickly and change is in the air again. So, let’s see what tomorrow holds. In the meantime, the experiences that we share here are timeless. They are a story of place and people.

Here goes…