Celebrations

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

Thanks to Pam Day for this week's post.

O Canada, what a week of celebrations!

 

Canada’s Soccer Team gained a victory over South Africa on Sunday, with much rejoicing and renewed hope for their next game against Morocco. [Not a win, but still an achievement.]

And of course we all celebrated Canada’s Birthday on the 1^st July.

But, for me, the most enjoyable celebration happened between those very public events, it was Elizabeth Small's 94^th  birthday.

Now Elizabeth only recently moved into Resthaven Lodge after living in the home her late husband built, so you can imagine that it has been a real struggle for her and her family to deal with the changes this brings, the dislocation and deep sadness that comes with the feeling that her “normal” life is over.

But thanks be to God, Elizabeth is a blessed child of a loving God and she has a strong faith, a wonderful supportive family, her best friend Joan, and many others too.

This 94^th birthday gave us all a golden opportunity to make it a memorable one and cement some “happy times” into her strange new life, and Joan and I set about doing just that. Feeling the love!

It started off with a 1 hour ride in a Triobike Taxi around the streets of Sidney with her best friend Joan. They had a blast! Doing the “Royal Wave” to passers-by and chatting to Jon their driver. Elizabeth thought that was just fine, but it was only the beginning! 

Birthday ride

A surprise party was set up with her Cousin Jennifer, and friends Sally, Josephine, Hilda, Carol, Norma, Joan and myself and later Janet M and Darlene  stopped by.

The party was complete with party hats, tooters, balloons and of course a wonderful cake thanks to Darlene.  Once the delicious cake had been consumed there were cards and gifts to open, and much to Elizabeth’s delight, lots of chocolate!

It was a truly festive day, but even good things
must come to an end. I was amazed at Elizabeth’s stamina – but Joan tells me that she crashed after the party ended, not surprising it had been a long and exciting day for sure.

Let’s hope this gave a new perspective to Elizabeth, and opened up the possibilities for a good life at Resthaven with more happier days to follow. And if the only thing that Elizabeth remembers tomorrow is the warm happy feeling of being loved by many, that will be just fine too.

Highlights of the Week

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here.

Congratulations to Abigail! On June 4th, she was promoted from Leading Cadet to Master Cadet. We are so pleased to see her developing her leadership skills within the cadets, an organization she truly loves. Well done, to the "congregation's baby."  

**************

On Monday, our faithful volunteers served up the Sunshine Lunch. The Hawaiian theme signified summer. Even though there was rain outside, there was plenty of sunshine inside.

                                                                

                                                                     *************

On Saturday we laid to rest one of our congregants.  There were tears and laughter as we remembered a long life, well-lived. Our brother-in-Christ was a stalwart supporter of SPPC and we will miss his presence among us. We pray for comfort and peace for his family. "Grief is the price we pay for love." But though we grieve the loss of an earthly companion, we rejoice in our hope in the Resurrection. 

**************

On Sunday we welcomed Rev. Irwin home back General Assembly. He got home in time to have cake on Sunday morning. At the same time we bid farewell to one of our elders, Elizabeth. She is heading to Alberta to be closer to family. I don't know if "celebrated" is the right word when someone moves away but we give thanks for her presence in our congregation over the past number of years and we wish her well in her new home. We also thank her for the excuse to have cake!