Rob and Cheryl’s 2013 Ramblings

It is Christmas morning 2013. We are waiting to go over to Elaine and Alex’s for a family meal and sleepover. We are on the tail end of the worst ice storm in this area for decades. The temperature outside is -15 degrees Celsius and everything is covered in immovable ice. There’s certainly no reason I can think of to be outside. The full 3 hour Messiah is playing on CBC radio and we are getting very close to the Halleluiah chorus, so my day is about to peak.

It is Christmas, the Christ child is safely delivered, the world is at peace and our souls may find rest if we seek it. Praise God from whom all blessings flow for the Inestimable Gift of Jesus that we celebrate at this time of year.

Settling Down

 
 
 
 
This has been the year we have settled into our new home in the town of Port Perry as opposed to living on the lake. Our new home is about the same size as our previous one, but it is newer and the garden is much smaller. For a guy who is practically challenged this counts as a huge advantage. Some of the highlights of our new existence:

·        Lawn care – we had two men come by offering us the Holy Grail of lawn care - to mow our lawn and keep it weed free.  No brainer – done.

·        Someone offering to help us cover our home ownership costs – lo and behold we have a fully functional apartment in our basement which we don’t need to use, so we have had Tony and his three kids staying down there and being model tenants – phew, thank you Lord. So much so, in fact Tony will occasionally send his sons out to clear the snow on the driveway. Once again a no brainer – done.

·        Hammock time – this pretty much leaves me with some of the more challenging aspects of owning a hammock ie should I face into the sun or away? Should I swing it or just rest steady? Should I read or just rest? You get the picture.

Bottom line we are very happily ensconced in our new home and enjoying the freedom of less household responsibilities – a bit akin to being an Empty Nester for the first time, or when the ageing cat finally dies. Now if I can just find someone to chip off a couple of inches of solid ice off my driveway, life will be truly Sweet.

Seeking Adventure

This was the year of the RV. We had bought our Beautiful Baby back in November of 2012 and had pretty much had to park it for the winter. So it was with great fanfare that we launched out in April on our first inaugural trip of discovery. Our first major discovery was figuring out the plumbing system. This may sound rather basic, but believe me, one wants to get it right. For more of a blow by blow record of our trip to Myrtle Beach and back see my previous blogs. Suffice to say that we have seen the future and it is good… all good. Now if we can just figure out somewhere to buy gas at about a tenth of the price, we might be able to afford it.

 

 

 

Since then, we have taken Sammy and Esther, our two eldest grandchildren, for a weekend. It rained and they both had bad colds, but much fun was had all the same.

 Then we had a week at a Christian resort in the summer with the whole family, which was hot but good. We are looking forward to building those family memories and the Bucket List still has the Big Road Trip to Grand Canyon somewhere near the top, so we’ll have to see how that goes.

Our wrap up to the season was a too brief stay in the Fall at Algonquin Park to see the Colours. We had the most gorgeous campsite, directly on the Lake with moonlight glistening over it and the colours were glorious during the days. The Lord describes himself so majestically through His Creation. We are so thankful for these glimpses of Him and what lies ahead.

We are looking forward to a good year of RVing in 2014, but we are constantly challenged by some of the other pesky time consuming things in our lives, like work, ministry commitments and yes, even grandchildren. Hard to believe a Grandfather could say such a thing isn’t it? I mean I love them but….oops I’d better stop while I’m ahead.

Seeing the End in Sight

Since I had some major problems with my eyes a couple of years ago I have reached the conclusion that I would rather spend my remaining healthy days doing something more significant than just turning up at work every day. And if it wasn’t my eyes that got me to this point – I was shocked in May this year to find that I am now married to a 60 year old. I didn’t think things would ever get to this. Fortunately my 60 year old is still a hottie, only looks around 39 or so and hardly ever acts her age.

I have been on a journey over the last year of exploring how to turn my Wealth Management Practice into a Pension. It turns out that what should be a straightforward thing is actually fraught with a variety of practical difficulties which don’t necessarily resolve all that easily. My brother Alan and I are partners and we are both working together on this. With the Lord’s help we are hopefully nearing a solution. We have found another team of brothers who are looking to grow their own practice and are keen to buy ours. We need one or two more approvals from our employer and we hope by this time next year to be formally in the Ranks of the Retired. Roll on those Senior’s Discounts. Yiahhh!!

Ministry Matters

It sure does. Cher and I prayed for a few years some time back for an opportunity to be involved in a significant ministry. God used a Jewish man in my office to point us in the right direction about six years ago and we are now actively involved in reaching out to a segment of the population that needs to know the personal love and saving grace of the Lord Jesus. Typical of much ministry, our lives are filled with committees, meetings and not enough face time with our target group. Progress is slow, but we are trying to follow where God is going with this and so we are happy to work at His pace and besides we have other things in life which we also value like our kids and their kids…

Family Matters

They certainly do. It has been an eventful year – not all of it good.

Elaine and Alex - We were all shaken to the core in June of this year, when Elaine’s husband Alex suffered a seizure in a shopping mall parking lot. It turns out to be a brain tumor. Alex is now on to his second round of chemo after an initial six weeks of chemo and radiation. We are thankful that the tumor shows no signs of additional growth and Alex has been given approval to return to work and re-apply for his driver’s licence. This has been hugely challenging to put it mildly and we value your ongoing prayers. We have been very grateful for the army of family, friends and work colleagues who have supported Elaine and Alex in so many ways. Alex has borne this challenge with dignity and grace. Elaine has struggled with the wider challenge of the situation, but once again God has helped her. We have been privileged to have spent more time than usual with Sammy (4) and Esther (2) a result of Alex’ treatment regime. Sammy started school this Fall and Esther is enjoying being her own person with Mom and Dad to herself at times. We love them to bits.

Julia and Chris –

They are doing well. Julia blessed us this year by falling pregnant and then producing a beautiful baby boy, James Douglas, in mid-November. He is doing well but we are reminded afresh of how much work new babies are and amazed at the way Julia and Chris stay sane amidst all the challenges. Their eldest, John (2), has the most wonderful smile and sweet nature and he charms all who fall under his spell. Chris continues to work hard at his tech support job whilst also taking on a variety of private side jobs to keep the household running and the budget balanced.

 
 
 
 Cheryl – is Super Nanna. She is the first line of call when Elaine or Julia need help and she pours herself into this. So much so, that her weeks can be a whirl of moving between three households. Cher’s gift is to Help and she has a remarkable capacity to do just that. I know Elaine and Julia value her involvement and Cher of course thrives on it.

My role - is to be the cheerleader of all of this activity with the occasional chauffeuring role and a bit of story-telling. I also seize the opportunity to wrestle with my grandson’s while victory is still reasonably assured. It turns out all of my grandchildren like to sing and a recent highlight for me was belting out Christmas carols with little two year old Esther while we wrestled over a challenging puzzle together. Precious memories.  

South Africa Re-visited.

We recently spent almost a month in SA  visiting with family and friends. We loved being back in the Old Country. SA, as always, continues to delight and dismay. We were delighted to see so many signs of a country moving towards integration – many more middle class families of all colours visiting the beaches, malls and movies. We spent quite a bit of time with my brother Neville and his wife and spent some time with his kids and their kids. It was really special re-connecting with old friends in the Johannesburg area and also in Hilton in Kwa Zulu Natal. We travelled to the Wild Coast and despite too much rain and cold (it was summer) we had a good time. We then connected with Cher’s Mom and her sister at Morgan’s Bay near East London and spent about ten days with them in that area.

In our final week Madiba passed on and the country went crazy – in a nice way. It was so good to re-live the wonderful life of this man who served his country so well. He has earned his place in history. Rest in Peace Madiba.

I put on about ten pounds whilst away – I blame the bad weather. What else is there to do on vacation if the weather’s too bad to go to the beach?

Last Word

When I’m feeling foolish or brave I will occasionally publish my New Year’s resolutions. I think I will keep it simple this year. My life is so much better on so many levels when I try to live each day in a way that pleases God and makes Him smile. I’m not very good at it, but nevertheless, I resolve to try in 2014 to make God smile every day. Anyone want to join me?

Cher and I wish you and yours all of God’s richest blessings in 2014. May you know Him in sweet and wonderful ways in the 12 months ahead.

God Bless,  

Rob & Cheryl Cornish