To inaugurate my blog with its first post, I thought I'd post the email I sent out with the news of why I'm going to be moving to Montreal. Here's how it all began!
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Well, I have some exciting and wild and crazy news to share with you! No, I'm not getting married (that probably doesn't really fit into the category of wild and crazy anyways), BUT ... I am moving to Montreal (yep, the one in Quebec, not that there is another one in the world that I know of) at the beginning of March! Wow, eh - I'll give you a second to take in what you just read...
Yes, it really is true, I am moving to Montreal at the beginning of March! Despite what I said in the first sentence, it isn't really all that wild and crazy, actually, but it is definitely exciting. I shall explain why I am seemingly "all of a sudden" moving to the other side of the country. I know it seems like it is an "all of a sudden" decision, but it has been a long process for me to get to this point. An incredible amount of prayer, and a lot of God speaking to me in many different ways and changing my heart, has gone into making this decision.
At the end of December 2006, the elders of our church released a couple to go to Montreal to plant a church. Guy and Rachel (that's the couple, for those of you who know them) and the leadership of my church have been praying about this for some time, and they all felt that Guy and Rachel were clearly called to go to Montreal to plant a church there, and that NOW IS THE TIME!
The news was officially announced to the church on September 3, 2006 and, the very next day, God told me to go with them (not in those exact words, but you get the idea). So, I and all the elders of my church, including Guy and Rachel, have been praying about this since then, to confirm that I was in fact to go and when. I have seriously experienced and dealt with every possible emotion that could come up when you are contemplating the idea of moving your life to the other side of the country, where they speak another language to boot!
If you've ever had to make a decision this big, you'd understand, but I won't go into too much detail. One of my first responses was something to the extent of "Me? Are you sure you have the right person? I don't think that I can move to the other side of the country - that is HUGE!". But God has been moving and speaking very powerfully and clearly and it is abundantly clear to me and the leadership of my church, that I am called to go to Montreal and be a part of this church plant.
Then God gave me a moving date... March 1... so I will be leaving Victoria sometime in the beginning of March. It may not be March 1 exactly, but I'll be moving out of my house at the end of February and leaving my job at the MS Society around the same time.
Guy and Rachel drove across the country with their two kids. They are now in Montreal and they moved into their house yesterday. Not surprisingly, the little details are already starting to fall into place! Their next door neighbours have a 14 year old girl who might babysit for them (Guy and Rachel's girls are 5 and 9), once they get to know her a little bit more. And they already have one member of their church! One of the guys with the moving company asked them why they had moved to Montreal while he was helping them move into their house. Guy and Rachel told him why they were there and he said something to the extent of "count me in as your first member, because I've been looking for someone to study the Bible with!"
They are living and starting the church in the English speaking area of Montreal. Despite their French names, Notre Dame de Grace (NDG for short) and Cote des Neiges are the primarily anglophone areas of Montreal. That is most likely the area where I will be living as well, but seeing as the final decision about all of this has been made quite recently, I don't have a place to live or a job yet.
On the last Sunday that Guy and Rachel were at Trinity Christian Centre (my church in Victoria), Guy preached on the topic of moving to Montreal to plant a church and the many questions that they have been asked in the last 5 months or so. It's a good message and it really does answer at least some of the questions you might be asking right now too. To listen, click on the link below and it should automatically begin to play in your default media player.
Lacey's Farewell Message (Sunday, December 31, 2006)
Although I've never lived in Montreal and I've only been there twice (once that I actually remember, since I was 5 years old the first time), I feel like moving to Montreal is going back to my roots. Both of my parents were born and raised in Montreal, but moved out west after they got married. All of my immediate family lives in BC or Alberta, so I'll be moving farther away from them (which will be very hard), but I will be moving closer to most of my extended family. In Montreal and the surrounding areas, I have a grandma, aunts and uncles, a great aunt and uncle, first, second and third cousins, and a friend of my grandma (the one who lives in Edmonton, not the one in Montreal). I'm looking forward to getting to know my extended family better while I'm there!
I did take French up to first year university, but that was 10 years ago, so I don't seem to remember much of it. You lose it if you don't use it! I have started reading stuff written in French (instead of reading the English side) and I can actually understand about half of it... slowly. I'm going to start listening to news (or something) in French and someone from my church in Victoria who is from Montreal and speaks French fluently is hopefully going to start tutoring me in conversational French. It'll be a crash course in learning to speak French again... all in seven weeks! It'll be fun challenge!
Well, I think that's it! You are, of course, most welcome to come visit me in Montreal anytime, so consider that an open invitation. Check out this blog for updates as things progress towards my moving date and then once I'm in Montreal - I'll try and update my blog at least once a week. I'll also send out email updates every once in a while, but I'll update my blog more often, so I don't innundate people with emails about me. :)
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