the ayars affairs: behind the scenes

Oh man. The 'behind the scenes' from a week like this last week are a bit insane, and life carries on! Matt's teaching this morning, almost all our board members and friends left yesterday, and we were preparing for a team and another visiting professor to come in today, but they've been delayed by the storms in Philadelphia. So we baked bread, put away mountains of laundry, made granola, played jacks, painted our toenails and played outside and are all trying to recover from bad colds that struck throughout the week!

Despite the lovely quiet of the Saturday morning, even if with this crew it does start at 6 am, I have to testify that the way the Lord very specifically and graciously met me this past week was absolutely through His people. I have been struggling, and exactly what I needed was exactly what He gave me. I know we talk all the time about the importance of God incarnate...God made flesh...not online ministry, but incarnate ministry, not by word alone ministry but by personal, relational ministry.

What I really needed this past week was a good friend, and God sent us several.

Having Robert and Jane here was just all joy. They are SO servant minded and hearted, and look so much like Jesus that we just got what we needed from Him through them. I cannot even begin to tell you all the millions of ways they helped and blessed us this past week...cleaned out the van, washed dishes, played with girlies, read books to Nora, played "beach" outside, supervised bath time, made pasta salad, baked cakes, swept, joined Matt on airport trips, Jane worked through hours of homeschool with the girls, ironing...I mean, you NAME it. Got up early, stayed up late, were endlessly patient, and when the day was done, sat and chatted and shared and listened and were our friends.

Robert is on our board, but months ago Jane realized that it might be a time we would need extra help, and committed to coming with him, and we are just so incredibly grateful for that insight and sacrifice and commitment. God knew we needed exactly them exactly now, and WHAT A GIFT. So grateful for their sweet friendship and for how they love (and are loved by) the girls.

I was also incredibly blessed by Carol, who came early and did a whole lot more than her CFO stuff. Not only did she take care of so many office issues and help us continue to switch to this new QB online system and help streamline several things, but she also was washing dishes and helping with the girls, listened and shared, helped and asked, supported and encouraged. The most practical and ongoing answer to prayer is that Carol agreed, now that we're online, to take over most of my finance responsibilities at home in Canada, working with Jodenel (who is already doing all the day to day and student finances here), and allowing me to actually gain HOURS a week to work on what I really need and love to be working on (marketing, story-collecting/telling)...This is a HUGE gift that no one else could really give me (or Emmaus) and I'm SO GRATEFUL. She's also WAY better at it than I am, and it will take her a fraction of the time! WAY thankful. Weight lifted!

We were also incredibly blessed by the board members, all encouraging men and women who have so much experience and wisdom to share with us. Our times with them, in meetings, over the dinner table, taking the kids to school, hanging out at the house...were so rich. We are incredibly blessed to have Godly men and women on the board from so many walks of life, passions and experiences, blessing us with tons of ideas, challenges, encouragements, convictions and growth!

Jerome baptized Matt when he was five years old, and having his life-long friendship and ministry partnership here with us for a few days, and that of the dear friends who came with him (like Serge, whom the girls are obsessed with!), was a gift.

I found this photo on my phone, one Sofie took at convocation. I just love it.

Charles has a lifetime of discipleship and church-planting experience and passion, and having him on the board and back again was a gift as well. He preached in chapel yesterday about exchanging anger for compassion, bitterness for forgiveness, and it was just awesome and so on point.

We also had all the normal surprises this week, like Thursday morning when I heated up the oven and put in my baked oatmeal, only to have this baking snake slither out of my oven, scaring me to death, or Wednesday, when Jane and I were working to finish homemade pretzels before the board breaked at 3, only to realize at 2:50 that the oven had run out of propane, ran across campus with half-baked pretzels to the Loft apartment, couldn't get the oven going, then almost caught ourselves on fire. I would have been crying if Jane hadn't been singe-ing with me.

After convocation the girls also took my good camera and disappeared for a while, and after they came in I found these goodies, cracking me up and reminding me how sweet everyday moments are with the girls, and how much I miss those things on crazy weeks like this!

Matt's precious grandma also passed away on Wednesday, in her sleep. Grandma Kay and her dear Mose were always so so good to us, loving us well and always letting us know that we were cherished. She loved me into the Ayars family long before I was, and I'm so thankful for the sweet time we had with her this summer.

Seven of our 8 grandparents were at our wedding in 2005, and it's hard to be so far away as we've lost one after another. So thankful for Grandma Kay in our lives and the legacy she leaves with her kiddos and grandkids and great-grandkids.

So there you have it. We made it, and while we may have come out of the busy week with colds and pretty well exhausted, we are far the richer, having been met intimately by Jesus through His people over and over.

What a JOY to take these dear friends, brothers and sisters,