Revisiting Sunset Point Beach & Remembering a Friend in Collingwood, Ontario

We are fortunate to have a few close friends in Toronto and beyond. But we are busy doing all sort of things here and there. We have to plan well and spend time with our friends.

During the summer, we were able to organize a couple of out of town get together events with our best buddies.

We invited them to Waterloo for a couple of days. They liked the visit as they had never been to this city.

Sunset Point Beach, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

Sunset Point Beach, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

After VBS and all the crazy things we needed to finish, we were able to spend a week to relax in Collingwood.

Taking a walking break at Sunset Point Beach

I always remember the saying that goes something like: " A shared happiness is a double joy; a shared sorrow is half a burden."

My favourite sculpture at Sunset Point Beach, Collingwood, Ontario

Therefore, we always invite friends and family members to our vacation home when possible.









With our friends, we went hiking enjoying the waterfront trails and parks in Collingwood, a small town of about 12,000 inhabitants.

One of our favourite parks in this small Ontario town is the Sunset Point Beach.

Enjoying get together with good friends in Collingwood

We went there a couple of times during our recent week long vacation in the town.

It brought back a lot of good memories for us when we visited the same  spot a few years ago with a good friend, Xiao.

Xiao was a vivacious woman, full of zest for life and always loved to learn. We had a fabulous time with her during her visit with us.

We enjoyed the same beautiful scenery in this park.

Sadly, Xiao is no longer with us.  We miss you, Xiao. I wish I had spent more time with you. You will always be in our hearts!










R.T.
Sunset Point Beach
Collingwood, Ontario

Enjoying the Fall Harvest at Ontario Farms in Collingwood

We are very fortunate living in the part of Canada where we enjoy four distinct seasons each year.

Of the four seasons, autumn  is my most favourite season of the year!

As soon as September rolls around, we start enjoying very comfortable mild cool temperature.

We went away for a week to enjoy this wonderful weather in Collingwood, a small city of about 12,000 people and a two hours drive north of Toronto.

A gorgeous Sunflower field at the Morrison Farm, Collingwood, Ontario

While in Collingwood, we attended a church service there on Sunday.

After church, we visited the Morrison Farm right across the road and the Fernwood Farm the next day.

A colourful display of pumpkins at the Fernwood Farm, Collingwood, Ontario 

Pumpkin are squash are  iconic vegetables of the fall season in Canada.

We have such an abundance of these two vegetables during this time  that they are everywhere.

They also come in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Goose neck squash - don't they look like the real thing?

My favourite squash is the goose neck squash we saw at one of the farms.

We saw a self help pay station at one of  the farms

Another neat thing we found at one of farm was that there was no one manning the booth.














It was an honour system where customers just dropped in their money in a cash box for their purchases.


It was even equipped with a credit card machine should one wish to pay with credit card.

Visiting the farms with the three amigos in Collingwood!

Visiting a pumpkin farm and picking out our pumpkins is a great Canadian tradition and a fun thing to do in the fall season!

We had a blast!

R.T.
Collingwood, Ontario

A Welcome Home Party Turned into a Powerful Prayer Meeting!

Summer time in Canada is beautiful!

Summer time is a great time to entertain friends and family!

We often host parties in our backyard during the warm summer months.

We hosted the couples' party recently at home

This year was no exception.

We hosted a few big parties for various groups.

J. loved seeing his cousins again in Toronto

One was for our son who came home this year and  wanted to see his cousins and friends.

Before I went to Waterloo for the leaders training, we held a welcome home party for him at home. It motivated us to tidy up the garden and had everything looking nice.

Entertaining family  at our backyard party

Since we wanted to minimize the work of decorating and cleaning up, I have learned to give two parties, one right after the other.

Therefore, we organized two parties on the same day - one in the early afternoon for family and another later one in the evening for our church friends.

A welcome home party in our backyard

Having catered the food,  we did not have to overwork ourselves preparing dishes for our guests.








It worked out well. All we needed to do was getting the garden and the house ready.

God blessed us with a fantastic afternoon and evening so that we could hold the parties outdoors.

Maria and Larry came in the afternoon to join us for the family party. W. and Danny dropped by later when most family members left.

For the church family gathering,  Ben - Y's childhood best friend and his family came for the party. Newly diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer,  Ben came to see Y.

I was afraid that they might not want to attend a social function due to this illness.

 We were surprised and glad they came.

Ben's parents were honest about his illness. They told everyone what the illness was about and asked everyone to pray for their son.

Right there in our backyard, everyone came together in a circle.  United and holding hands, we  prayed and cried out to God for His mercy and power to heal this young man.

God's presence was there that evening!

We encouraged Ben and his family with God's words and shared good news stories with them. I shared with them how God cured my sister who was suffering a serious case of breast cancer. That was almost thirty years ago.

My sister is a cancer survivor, doing well, a healthy grandmother with four lovely active grand children!

Ben and his parents were positive and enjoyed their time at our welcome home party for our son.
















God is full of mercy, love and grace.

He welcome my son home, blessed him with a great party and at the same time, provided us with an opportunity to pray for Ben and to encourage them! Praise God!

R.T.
Toronto

P.S.  A couple of weeks later, Ben.'s mom texted me informing me that the doctor found B.'s tumor has shrunk and that it is a slow growth tumor. No chemo is needed. Just hormone therapy! Praise God!

The family asked us to continue praying for Ben.
We definitely will! Glory to God for listening to our prayers!

Asking God for Directions and a Sign for My VBS Work in Waterloo, Ontario

We have been running VBS for the past decade

With lots of help from the local churches and volunteer youth leaders, I have been able to run an annual full day week long VBS for the children in the Waterloo region for the past decade.

Youth Leaders' participation is invaluable to VBS 

However, I was not sure how this year's summer camp would work out as we seemed to have more leaders than children registering for the church camp.

Number of Youth Volunteers broke our record this year!

Without much advertising but depending mostly on word of mouth, the VBS  usually has a decent turn out every summer. This year was different; it was the slowest in terms of registration. With less than two weeks prior to the camp opening,  only eleven children had registered.

Children's registration for VBS was slow at the beginning

'' Is God telling me to finish my work here?  Is it time for me to move on to do something else?" I wondered when the church elder told me about the registration number.   I prayed to God for His guidance. I prayed to Him to give me a sign if this would be the last year we should be offering this program here.

A painting activity idea by one of our youth leaders

I asked for a sign - if the VBS had less than 20 children, then it was a clear sign that God wanted me to stop and move on to something else.

The children and teens both enjoyed the many activities at our VBS

Three days before VBS, the registration number jumped up to 19 children! I said to God, but I asked for 20 children as a clear sign. The day before VBS, a parent called and asked me if there was still space for his daughter

We had to move the children on the 3rd day of VBS.

We hit 20 when the camp opened, the exact number I asked for!

We had to modify programs and activities.

We encountered a number of challenges in this year's VBS:

1.  The pastor of the church that lent the most support to VBS had to go overseas for a family emergency.

Our youth leaders were flexible in their programs and instructional methods.

2. One of my 4 main leaders had to drop out at the last minute, also due to family illness

We moved our Fair Fair to indoor this year.

3.  The original site where we were supposed to hold the camp could only accommodate us for 2 days out of the 5 due to fire inspection procedures

Grateful for our youth leaders' assistance and contributions!

4.  We had to move the camp after 2 days to a new site which was not ideal for the operation of the camp

We added a Kids' Cooking Class for 2019 VBS

5. I didn't have a car as I left the car in Toronto for my husband and J.

Despite of all these challenges, God looked after us well during the camp. He sent a team of volunteers to help me shop, cook and look after the volunteers' lunches and the children's needs.

Grateful for the parents and local church's support

Because I didn't have a vehicle, I| could not do any shopping at night therefore I could rest. Cindy, one of the leaders' mother did an excellent job organizing everything!

The children were well behaved!

The children were well behaved. The youth leaders, though young and inexperienced, were cooperative and teachable. They were cooperative and pleasant to work with.





The team of volunteer mothers learned that I left J. at home for a week and he was leaving on Friday evening, they urged me to leave on  Friday afternoon to see him off.

I felt confident enough to do just that. Chuck arranged a ride for me to Toronto so that I had door to door service to our house.

2019 VBS went well despite of many challenges!

I was able to spend some time with J. before he departed Canada.

VBS went well as well as the presentation on VBS Sunday.

2019 VBS Waterloo, Ontario

God is great! Everything worked out at the end. He gave me a clear sign - keep going and serving the children in the Waterloo community! 

R.T.
Week of VBS, 2019
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada
19082019