Cornish
Chronicles 2016
2016
– A Year for the Memory Books
It’s that Time…
It’s minus 10 degrees outside, there’s snow everywhere,
the Christmas carols are blaring, the lights on the tree are warming up the atmosphere
and hot chocolate is on order. It’s pretty much perfect….in fact it’s
definitely that time. Welcome to Christmas 2016. It’s time to review all of the
doings of the year and reflect on God’s great goodness to us over the last 12
months.
Going, Going, Gone…
Our year started off simply enough. We planned to
visit family, and celebrate Cher’s Mom’s 90th birthday in South
Africa during our bad winter month of February.
It wasn’t long before our
youngest daughter Julia cottoned on to that and asked if we minded if she
joined us along with her 3, 2 and 5 month old – she also wanted to join in with
the birthday bash. We were pleased for the extra company and oblivious to the
fact that our once rather quiet and placid trip had been upgraded to the status
of a stage 4 or 5 hurricane.
All’s well that ends well and we had a lovely time
with family and friends. Having said that I no longer recommend air travel
spaced over 40 hours in each direction with large family groups most of whom
are still in diapers and less than thirty inches tall. 
We were home for six weeks and then embarked on our
Great North American RV Odyssey across a big chunk of the USA and parts of
Canada.
Once again our plans had started off modestly for just the two of us,
but then our good friends Dave and Delia Russel from South Africa found that
the timing worked for them to visit North America. We had half planned to do an
RV trip together for years, so the timing seemed right to Just Do It. The rest
is history and if you haven’t read it yet, you can find our write up on it on
earlier postings on this blog site (robwithcher.blogspot.com). We were gone for
close on 10 weeks, covered over 15,000 kilometres, spent a month in total with
Dave and Delia and we were all still good friends by the end of it. We got home
in the second half of June and were ready to put our feet up on the back deck
for a while. Apparently not though…
A couple of weeks later we took our RV for our
annual week at Fairhavens Christian
camp. Each family has their own living space, but we were all close
together, so it was a week of eating together, enjoying programs and just
hanging out and enjoying a typical Canadian summer experience of fun, games,
beach and much more, with those we love most.
We were just getting out the deck chairs to put our
feet up, when Elaine, our eldest daughter decided that it would be better to
visit her Nanna in South Africa 2016 with Sammy and Esther than 2017 when she
had previously planned. Elaine asked
Cher if she would be willing to accompany her and help with the kids. So they
left in the latter part of July and Rob was quite happy to be left to watch the
weeds grow from the comfort of his nice comfortable spot on the back deck.
Having said that, we had one of the hottest July and Augusts on record and for
about six weeks the temperatures were comfortably over 30 degrees, so neither
the weeds nor the lawn had a chance and Rob just watched the garden dry up
mainly.
Our summer wrapped up in August with a week up in
Collingwood at a time-share we had been given by my brother Alan and his wife
Rose. The daughters and children each spent half a week with us, so that was a
nice way to enjoy a very beautiful part of our province – lovely beaches and
ski hills nearby.
Once Cher returned, the pace of life picked up as we
all started gearing up for the busyness of the fall season. We were able to
borrow a couple of days in September to visit Beavermede campground in Peterborough
in September in our RV before it was time to tuck her up in bed for the winter.
It’s always sad when we do that as it’s a final sign that the warm weather fun
is over for the year.
Retirement Reality Kicks in
Rob has been gradually reducing his involvement at
work for a couple of years now, but in July this year, the stars aligned and
the numbers worked out for him to pull the trigger once and for all and
put the working life out of its misery by taking a severance package which was
offered. So as of August 1st Rob has been officially retired. He no
longer has obligations to keep his compliance credits up to date, nor to turn
up at his office. It’s like setting a caged bird free.
We have both enjoyed not having the obligation of
work hanging over us. Having said that our lives are full and we still have to
sit down once a week to check what the plan is and to figure out how we are
going to fit everything in.
We are both involved with a ministry that works with
primarily immigrants to Canada. Rob is on the Canadian Leadership Team and
Cheryl oversees our local Durham chapter of the ministry. This keeps us both
busy one way and another at least three days a week. We also look after Julia’s
three boys one full day a week and sometimes more. Rob intends to go to the gym
three times a week but generally manages about twice a week. We are also both
heading up our newly formed Welcome Team at our church, intended to smother
newcomers and irregulars with so much love and care that they can’t conceive of
ever not returning for more of the same.
The bottom line on retirement for us is that about
the only thing that’s really changed is we no longer get paid, but are just as
busy as ever. Thank you Lord that in your Kingdom there is always a place and a
need for us and we can make a contribution as long as we are fit and able.
Talking about Fit and Able
We are both grateful to be in good health by and
large despite the odd aches and pains which is to be expected. When we first
moved to Port Perry Rob had not been able to find a local GP as there weren’t
enough to go around at the time. When he finally did find one after a few years
he has had to put up with the doctor’s semi-retired
lifestyle and sometimes being told he would have to wait five weeks for an
appointment to see him. Not being one to rush decisions, after eight years Rob
finally realized this year that his GP was likely to die or retire any time
now, so it was time to jump ship for a younger fresher face. He is now with
a mid-30s new GP who hopefully won’t be
retiring or dying anytime soon.
Rob had cataract surgery in both eyes at the end of
September. Recovery has been slow, so he has been struggling without
prescription lenses until now which has made reading and computer work a
challenge. At this point his left eye is good and his right eye is about 70%
good, and perhaps still improving. He should have proper prescription glasses
in about a month which will be a great relief as he has been making do with
cheap off the shelf reading glasses from Walmart.
Ministry Matters….
Our fall months were pretty much consumed with our
involvement in helping to run a National Conference for the ministry we are
part of. We tried a different tack this year and ran three conferences in one.
Seemingly folks found it a valuable approach and we have had quite a lot of
good feedback.
Rob visited the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia) in November with a ministry colleague to see if we could firm
up some interest in our ministry on that end of the country. As it turns out
the response was very positive and we are hoping to initiate an additional 4 –
5 chapters by March next year, so that feels good.
Family Catch Up..
Elaine, Alex, Sammy (7) and Esther (5)
The family
all attend People’s Christian Academy together every day. Elaine and Alex both
teach bible classes and world religions. Alex is the school chaplain and Sammy and Esther are
rising up through the ranks. Life is hectic for them all. Elaine has cut out
her private piano lessons on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings, so this helps
bring a bit more sanity to their time. Alex continues on with his chemo. We are
all thankful that side effects are minimal apart from tiredness. So he will
often return from school and head for bed early as he is exhausted. Having said
that he continues to be in demand as a preacher and speaker and is often off fulfilling these
opportunities. We are grateful for his continued stable condition.
Julia, Chris, John (4), James (3) and Peter (1)
Chris
started a new job very close to home during the year. This has probably
redeemed a minimum of two hours per day in commute time for which they are all
grateful. Julia continues to manage a busy household and keep the ship afloat.
To add to that she has decided to start home schooling this year. So their
living room has become a classroom and John and James are her first intake.
They all seem to be enjoying it and time will tell how things pan out in the
long run.
Finally….
And so on looking back, it’s been a good year. God
has watched over us all as a family. He has provided for much fun, family time
and opportunity to honor Him with our time and effort. We are so grateful to
Him for the abundant life which He has blessed us with. And to cap that off…. We are celebrating, this
Season, the arrival of His Son, Jesus, who has made it possible for our lives to be so
rich and fulfilled. Thank you Lord for your unfailing goodness.
To you our family and friends we wish you God’s
richest blessing this Christmas and for the upcoming year.
God Bless,
Rob and Cheryl
December 2016
