Four days of driving, from Toronto to Edmonton, but we’re home. Here we are in our first ever owned by us house! Hard to believe that time has come and we’re now where we have chosen to spend the foreseeable future as we approach and eventually enter retirement.

I could write quite a bit about what I think retirement will look like – not sitting around twiddling my thumbs by the way – but I do like the idea of being in our own home and being settled.

That settling part is going to take some time – that’s for sure – we have lots to do to settle but we are here.

As a record of our trip here I’m posting a few pictures. Let me state the obvious once again – wow Ontario is a big province. From Toronto in the far south of the province to the end of our second day of driving, some 1900 km where we stopped in Kenora we found ourselves in some remote parts of the province even though we stayed to the Trans Canada Highway.

Amanda, Carlyle, Fitz and Paige were waiting for us on the front step with a welcome home sign – have you ever seen anything cuter? How wonderful to be welcomed like this! Phil was working but we had a visit from him before the day was out! Hugs all around!

We live in a big country – we live in a remarkably beautiful country – we live in a country with very diverse geography. You really get the sense of that on a road trip! We had lots of time to talk, decompress from the run up to our move, and to enjoy some good food and good eating spots along the way. While we were tired at the end of the day it was a good drive and of course hitting the heat out in the prairies was interesting! Wow – 37 degrees C. Hot and dry!

So now we’re home! I can only end this short post by expressing how grateful we are to God for the blessings which have come to us – for family, for health, for ministry, for home! On the first evening in our new home we got out two chairs and a couple of cold drinks and sat outside in the evening light (the sun didn’t set until after 11 pm) and we prayed a prayer of thanksgiving together for all that fills our hearts with a feeling of overwhelming joy – the joy that comes from a lifetime of following Jesus, of giving yourself to others and to end up feeling that somehow you don’t deserve these blessings which fill your head and heart – and yet God’s hand seems to obviously present that the deepest sense of peace that you can ever know is within us!

Psalm 103

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.