Where are they now?
Transformed by their experience of cross-cultural mission, former Scarboro lay members live a new vision of the world
Living Mindfully
By Anne Quesnelle
October/November 2006
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If our life were a book, what would we entitle the chapter we are in right now? When our Scarboro family asked for an update on our lives since our return from mission in Ecuador I tried not to cringe.
Marc Chartrand, Anne Quesnelle and their son Sami, 18 months. Marc and Anne served with Scarboro Missions in Ecuador for three years.
My first thought was that Marc and I have not done much in the community where we have put down new roots. We are no longer the well-known actively involved couple we used to be. But as I reflect over the last two and a half years I realize that we have been doing something important. We have been busy working and living consciously, mindfully, with integrity, while being true to ourselves. Let me explain.
As soon as we returned from our mission experience in South America, I decided to follow an inner calling and become a teacher instead of returning to my previous career in the fast-paced financial sector. During my year in teacher's college, we also took on another role and embraced parenthood, welcoming into the world our beautiful son Sami. His arrival allowed us to clarify our priorities and to perfect the art of living in the here and now.
Marc and I are currently employed by the French Catholic School Board in Sudbury, Ontario, as contractual teachers awaiting permanent positions. Marc is a math teacher at Coll.ge Notre-Dame and I am a supply teacher at the elementary school level. Not only did we want to live closer to our families, but we also chose work that is in sync with our values and allows us more time with those we love the most.
We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to be able to live comfortably with all our daily needs and wants met. We indulge in the simple pleasures of life such as get-togethers with friends and family as well as hiking and canoeing in Northern Ontario's great outdoors.
Some of our career-oriented peers in Canada consider our life a bit frugal – an older house, owning only one car, and no cable TV, cell phone, high-speed Internet or MP3 player. Yet, we know that at least four-fifths of the world's people would be happy to trade places with us.
Marc and I choose to practice voluntary simplicity and consume less so that we are able to spend money in other areas like charitable causes, early retirement and travel. We have just returned from a wonderful and unforgettable month-long holiday in Spain with Sami, now 18 months old. During the trip we were frequently humbled by the daily demands of caring for a child but we were still able to enjoy quality time as a family, constantly learning how to be with our toddler and how to let our toddler be.
So as we continue to see our own life as a journey and as an adventure, we invite everyone not to dwell on the future nor focus on the past but to live wholeheartedly in the present moment. And may we all follow Gandhi's advice to "live simply so that others may simply live."
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