The Joyful Ending

I sit in our home, laundry to do and dishes clean in the dishwasher, taking these few minutes as my baby naps and my older kids clean their rooms (hopefully) to write to you all about what is happening with the Dean Team. The minutes that I have seem very few when I think of all that I would like to say and all that has been happening. 

I titled this update, ‘The Joyful Ending,’ because that is my predominant feeling as we walk into our new season. As I look ahead, a profound sense of gratefulness and hope fills me when I take a moment away from the to-do’s of today and think of all that God has done to bring us here. The last few months have been filled with three main things; transitioning to having three kids, leaving a full-time ministry role, and Matt starting the road to permanent residency here in Canada. 

The first has been a road of so much joy as we welcomed Aniyah Laureen Dean into the world on April 11. She has been such a lovely baby and the perfect addition to our family. The kids love her, and Matt and I get to enjoy (and endure) the newborn stage of parenting once again. All went well with the birth and recovery for me and we are finally getting in to a rhythm amidst the slower summer season. 

The second event I have talked about more thoroughly in other places. If you would like to read more about that process for me, Gillian, then you can in our blog here… https://www.deanfamilyteam.com/post/a-new-year-is-here

In addition to that, Matthew has now also transitioned out of full time ministry work as well. It was and is a significant shift for him as he too had been a part of YWAM doing ministry since 2012. It has been a large part of his adult life; where we met and started our family together. Leaving that lifestyle and occupation has been a big deal. 

The third thing has been applying and waiting for Matt’s permanent residency and his open work permit. Till now he had been working in Canada under YWAM and just this month received the news that he has his open work permit and can apply to a job elsewhere. We are very excited and thankful as he starts his new job at Island Crisis Care Society (ICCS) here in Nanaimo. He will be on the facilities maintenance team and doing much of what he did for years in Germany but here. ICCS is a non-profit working with the unhoused and low income residents of the area. We are again thankful to God to have a job so quickly after the permit came through. 

Now we start a new chapter, and it feels like the natural end to a long season of transition. Since we moved here there has been change after change after Change. I could never have imagined what we would be doing and how things would have gone a year ago. The plans that we had made for ourselves were not anywhere close to this, but that does not mean that we are unhappy with them. We see God working not just in the last year but in the last 5 years to bring us to this point and for myself, I am so thankful that it was such a long process, though I didn’t see it at the time. Leaving something we loved so much and poured so much of our hearts into has been no small thing and the adventure ahead is worth the journey. 

We want to thank you all for joining us on that journey. Whether you have been following along for a long or short while or you read this update later on, I hope that the light in our lives has brightened yours and that God receives all the glory from it. For those that supported us financially, we thank you again so much for your trust and confidence in us and our mission. For those that have prayed and encouraged our hearts and spirits, we could not have done it without you. And to all that we met along the way, your lives touching ours has made such a difference. 

I don’t know all that will happen for us in this new chapter of life, but I know that He promises our future is in His hands and is absolutely wonderful. May it be so.  

Gillian and Matthew Dean

with Elaina, Emeth, and Aniyah