{"id":706,"date":"2014-08-01T09:05:58","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T16:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insideout.insidewp.test\/?p=706"},"modified":"2014-08-01T09:05:58","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T16:05:58","slug":"ten-blessings-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2014\/08\/01\/ten-blessings-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Blessings This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

After three summers of spending weeks away studying and last summer travelling to the East Coast in celebration of our 35th<\/sup> anniversary, I was looking forward to spending some time at home, enjoying our home, welcoming others to enjoy it with us, and getting some jobs done. It has been all I could have asked for and more. I didn’t get around to posting what I have been doing this summer on the ACS Facebook page, so I thought I could share some it here.<\/p>\n

Following are ten great blessings I have been able to enjoy so far:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Spending evenings with Jane (and sometimes others) on our deck<\/li>\n
  2. Going to Whitecaps games<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Going on the Peak to Peak gondola at Whistler Blackcomb<\/li>\n
  4. My sister and brother-in-law coming to visit and spending a night with us<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Mom coming with them and spending about ten days with us (at 88, these visits are much treasured)<\/li>\n
  6. Celebrating our grandson Noah\u2019s birthday at Rolley Lake<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Cycling 20+ km before breakfast, including once stopping to pick berries at Saathof\u2019s so we could have fresh blueberries in our pancakes and oatmeal (okay, that ride was only 15 km)<\/li>\n
  8. Going to Steveston for fish and chips and a sunset, and enjoying Mom\u2019s love for the ocean<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Pressure washing 14 years of grunge off our driveway and having someone ask, \u201cDid you just get a new brick driveway?\u201d<\/li>\n
  10. Jane\u2019s sister and her husband visiting for a weekend and having all the nephews, nieces, and the children join us for BBQ<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The break from the pressure and busyness of school is truly welcome. Truth be told, though, ACES is never far away. Literally, that is true, of course, but that isn\u2019t so bad, especially as the playground becomes an extension of our yard. Mentally, it is fairly distant at times. Then someone is interested in a late enrolment so I meet with them (though showing people around the school is always a pleasure for me). It is hard to avoid checking emails, pretty much on a daily basis, in spite of my automated response indicating otherwise. A Leadership Team retreat last weekend, with an agenda looking towards the fall, brings school into sharp focus again. A week or so in Alberta will be a welcome break, another week or so at home, and then it will be time to head back to the office.<\/p>\n

    In the end, I thank God for all these blessings, including my job. But the first coat of paint on the upstairs room has been drying while I have been writing this, so it is time to get back at it.<\/p>\n\n\t\t