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 90^th 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 1^st 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