Where did the time go? It feels like I just arrived back in Ontario and here we are on our way again, this time out to the West to see our kids. The two youngest, Dave and Liz are in Calgary, which is where we will be headed next, while our oldest is now in Seattle, where I will be flying next weekend. It has been nearly a year since I have seen any of them, so I am looking forward to that leg of our stay in Canada.

This week has been all about seeing our grandkids, who will be shortly joining their Dad in the States, our daughter-in-law Nicole, who has been holding the fort back here in the East, and our friends, supporters and natal families. It has been a whirlwind of meetings and meals, events and conversations. To those we have had the opportunity to see, many thanks for your kindness and hospitality. We wish we could have stayed longer. For those we missed, we are awfully sorry and hope that we will see you next year.

Being missionaries on furlough – even tentmakers like us who don’t have a host of supporting churches to visit on our all too brief annual trips home – means that our time is not our own. It is basically at the service of what we like to call “God-appointments;” those dear folk that the Holy Spirit directs us to minister to in the short time we have at our disposal. However, God is not a hard task-master, and He has allowed us some time of reflection on our journey. We did get a very nice walk through Springbank Park of an evening and a hastily conceived and much appreciated trip to Ipperwash Beach to watch the sun go down in a blaze of glory into Lake Huron.

Now we will have one final visit with our grandkids before we have to say goodbye to them for another year. That will be hard. But it is a great comfort for us to know that they are being brought up in a godly home by parents who love them dearly. With all the turmoil in the world, both here in the West and in Asia where we live, that is a great blessing.