Rob and Cheryl’s 2014 Ramblings

2014 – Our Victory Lap Year

At the beginning of the year I was telling one of my clients, who is a longstanding friend, that we were planning to retire in 2014. She said “well Rob, you should treat this year like your final year of high school and make it your Victory Lap Year”.  I liked the idea as it turns a potentially negative “letting go” exercise into a positive “ending well” kind of concept.

Alan, my brother who works with me, and I, have concluded a 12- 15 month process of transitioning our Wealth Management Practice to another couple of brothers in our office who we think will do a good job for our clients. We are now formally Associates of the two brothers and will continue on in that role for another year or two in an assistant/consultant role.

The process of handing over each client has been both uplifting and a bit heartbreaking. Gaining, building and maintaining each relationship has been hard won and the focus of much of our efforts for the last 18 years. Saying goodbye has been difficult – we know the stories of our clients,  sometimes as well as their pastor or family doctor do. Having said that I have often been surprised at the level of compliments that my clients have lavished on me to the two new guys, more or less letting them know that they have “big shoes to fill”. This is where I got to enjoy my Victory Lap – I feel very grateful to God who knew in 1997 just the type of work that would suit a man of my temperament, and experience.

In 1997 I was in the process of leaving Scripture Union, rather beaten and battered, really with no idea of what I wanted to do or where to even start looking. God graciously lead me to this job, provided it for me in the most amazing way (too long to be told here) and then proceeded to lavish on me His love and care, showing me that He is not just a God who cares about what we can do for Him so much as one who just loves to bless us as we seek to please and honour Him. Now that it is time to move on from this work, we are both excited to see what the Lord has lined up for us in our “Retirement Years”.

Take a Deep Breath and …Stay Calm

Along with the whole Retirement process, Cheryl and I have somehow managed to stay afloat this year amidst a sea of ministry related commitments, which have kept us sometimes wondering if we were going to make it.

Most of our ministry involvement is in the area of encouraging Canadian churches to reach out to a segment of the immigrant population with the Good News of Jesus. We are mainly involved in background administrative and organisational roles, but we also do some face to face work with families we have come to know. We are fairly involved in arranging an annual Summer Picnic and Christmas Party, both of which have a significant outreach component.

I am on the Canadian Leadership team of the ministry we represent, which involves lots of meetings and a bit of travel. I also oversee the Eastern half of Ontario and Quebec and have some local responsibilities in part of the Greater Toronto Area in mobilising churches and individuals to get involved in this great “challenge, which is really a God given opportunity”.

Cheryl and I organised two training conferences in the Toronto area, both of which nearly sunk us as we wrestled our way through a mountain of details. By and large, we have had good feedback, but at times we wondered if we would stay afloat. We are thankful that somehow things seem to come together at the end.  

This type of ministry is a tough sell – and yet God is at work in incredible ways amongst this segment of the population globally. We feel privileged to be small cogs in this major move of the Holy Spirit that is happening despite, and sometimes because of, all the bad news we see daily on our TV screens.

RVing Ramping up … but never Fast Enough

We have managed more RVing this year than the previous, but it still doesn't feel like enough. For me I find the lure of the open road, very tantalizing. We read of couples who become “Full Timers” and I can understand why. The sense of freedom and endless horizons is very appealing to me. Whilst being a Full Timer may be satisfying, it is also an expression of the “Me First” mindset which so characterises our culture. Life holds so much more than just the endless pursuit of self-fulfillment.

This year our big trip was to Florida. Julia and our two grandchildren (John 2, and James 5 months) joined us for a month to make sure we didn’t get bored. We loved the opportunity to get to know John and James better, but returned home feeling a bit like we needed a holiday and having acquired a renewed respect for how much work it is looking after young children.

We also managed to fit in a couple of weekend trips with the grandchildren. Sammy and Esther joined us for one weekend in Peterborough. Ontario has so many beautiful spots to visit, but unfortunately only a relatively short three to four month window of time to do so each year. The whole family returned for a wonderful week in July to Fairhavens, a Christian campsite and resort. The kids are looked after, in their own program, for chunks of the day, which gives everyone a break.  

Putting the RV to bed each year, for the winter, is a sad job – batteries out, water lines drained, propane tank off – it all seems so final. Gone is the opportunity to cancel all meetings, pack the overnight bag and pick up and just go. It is a telling reminder that we face the grim prospect of the long winter ahead. Nevertheless it’s done and we have the dreary winter months in which to plan next year’s adventures.

Southern Africa Adventure

The sixtieth reunion of my old high school, Falcon College, in July, provided the excuse and opportunity for a boy’s only trip to Southern Africa with my two brothers, Alan and Neville and my brother in law Roy in July and August.

We had three weeks or so of touring Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. These were the countries we all grew up in and it was an opportunity to go and search out some memories. For me I found it a bit sad, particularly in Zimbabwe and Zambia to see how much potential has been wasted over the last 50 years or so. Mismanagement, crime, warfare and corruption have taken their toll. Botswana, with the least potential, has done the best. Good, honest, stable government and responsible management of their limited natural resources have produced a model for other African countries to emulate – let’s hope they will. I’m not betting much money on it.

Family Flourishings

God is good and our family continues to do well.    

Elaine, Alex, Sammy (5) and Esther (3)

Since September Elaine has been teaching two French classes daily to grades 7 and 8 at Peoples Christian Academy (PCA). Despite it being her least favorite subject she is getting down to it and enjoying the challenge. She also completed her Master of Theological Studies this year at Tyndale Bible College. She continues to juggle home, family and teaching and keep her sanity intact. We are very proud of her.

Alex is teaching part time, and continues to preach from time to time, whilst his brain tumor treatment has been ongoing. The most recent two MRIs have shown that the tumor is not growing at this point.  A few months back the surgeons went in to take a look and snip off a bit of the tumor that looked like it might be growing – this had to be done while Alex was awake. His description of how they broke through his skull and into his brain, is a tribute to the marvel of modern medicine  but leaves one with the dubious knowledge of the horror of having a power saw applied to the side of one’s head whilst fully awake. Oh my goodness – the mind boggles. We admire Alex for his courage and composure during this difficult period of his life.

Sammy is now 5 and enjoying the fellowship and challenge of school at PCA where Alex and Elaine teach. Spiderman is his top hero at present. He is involved in swimming lessons, soccer and Awana (a Bible Club). He loves to try and out trick his Granddad, which of course is not that hard these days. I love to wrestle with him.

Esther spends the mornings that Elaine is teaching at PCA at the school nursery. Despite a slow start she now likes her “school” and is flourishing. Esther is light as a feather and it is no problem to lift her up and hold her close. I treasure every cuddle opportunity allowed, but they are limited – she takes wrestling lessons from her brother.

Julia, Chris, John (2.75) and James (1)

Julia is back to work part time this year, having exhausted her  
maternity leave. She manages this quite well with the kids with a combination of private nursery and grandparent power. We love the opportunity. Julia continues to balance her life between church, family, friends and neighbors. Most recently she organised a carol sing for her neighbors with various friends and families knocking on doors and singing Christmas carols lustily for anyone who answered the door and didn’t mind listening for a verse or two.

Chris continues on at his tech service job and is enjoying it along with receiving recognition for his efforts. Chris can fix or make pretty much anything, so is a valuable member of the family. He loves to take apart cars and put them together again – I struggle to understand how this can be considered enjoyable, but of course life is full of mysteries.

John is now almost three years old. He is built like a mini wrestler and loves nothing better than to ambush his poor grand-dad and hold him helpless on the ground whenever given the opportunity. He delights in anything with an engine in it, so signs of taking after Chris are very much evident. Along with that, he is a great singer and will sing to himself when sent to his room for a “rest”.

James, 15 months, is the enigma of the family. He doesn’t yet utter a word, but once his eye catches something, there’s pretty much nothing that will hold him back from reaching his objective. He has recently taken to climbing on the kitchen table, via the chair of course, and getting an early start on a sky diving career. Leaping down flights of stairs is also beginning to be a theme. Sometimes he has the look of a grizzled old warrior who has seen too many bar fights – I advise Julia and Chris not to take him out in public on days like that. They might get arrested for child abuse.

Cheryl and Rob

We are both doing well, albeit with a few aches and pains here and there. They are a reminder to us that life is short and needs to be lived well and fully at every opportunity.

Cher continues to be Super Nanna and seems to have a relentless appetite to shop for her grandchildren. She regularly applies her clothing budget on them – isn’t that a picture of my good wife? Never concerned about putting herself after the needs of others – she continues to earn my admiration and respect on a daily basis. Thank you Lord for a woman such as this.

We are both adjusting to this new “Retired” idea. It’s a bit stretching. We have been regularly sleeping in until 7am and are still struggling with the guilt of such an indulgent lifestyle. We wonder how long we can get away with it before our sins find us out. Seriously, the loss of the daily going to work routine is quite disorientating and no doubt it will take us a while for life to feel normal again. Nevertheless we are glad to find ourselves at this end of our work careers and looking forward to what will come next.

I have taken up going to the gym – a long deferred goal. I have been attending a morning class mainly attended by women. Occasionally a brave man will join them but most back out when they are outshone by the level of fitness these ladies show. I stand amazed at the level of activity these ladies of all ages and stages manage to fit into each 45 minute session. Time will tell if I manage to keep up with them.

The End of the Beginning

I nearly said the Beginning of the End but somehow that didn’t sound so good. Cheryl and I continue to value your friendship, fellowship and involvement in our lives.

May 2015 be a year of great blessing to you – may we all be a blessing to the Lord who is gracious and accepts and loves us despite all of our flaws and failings.

God bless and keep you in the year ahead,

Rob and Cheryl

December 2015.