Macfarlane News 2005

2005 is coming to a close and year end always seems like a good time to reconnect with family and friends to share God’s goodness to us during the ups and downs of life during 2005.

David has had another year filled with trips across Canada, meeting with pastors and denomination heads, and speaking at many events. Celebration 2005 was a great success, so much so that plans are underway for Celebration 2006! He also has many trips planed across Canada; he has also been asked to speak in Argentina (April) and Trinidad (June) with Samaritan’s Purse which he is very excited about. I get to go on some of the driving trips with him, such as to Montreal and Ottawa whenever I can get some time off, but have decided that it’s time for me to return to Argentina (which I have never returned to since I left in 1975), so am planning to accompany him in April and stay a few more days to go back and see all the places I used to hang around in my growing up years. I am working 4 days a week; 10 months of the year at the University of Waterloo in the Financial Aid Department for graduate studies (get middle of June to middle of August off). I thoroughly enjoy my work. I find it hard to believe that I have been there for 5 years already!!

December 13th was our 30th wedding anniversary!! Where has time gone to!! Our girls arranged a surprise celebration for us with some of our Ontario friends. It truly was a surprise. We had absolutely no clue at all!! We are so thankful for our friends and family. They sure enrich our lives.

The highlight for 2005 was Heather’s wedding to Matthew Bast on May 1. It was a beautiful wedding (I’m biased!!) David performed the wedding and gave her away! Always a special time for him. Friends from as far as BC came to share in this special day. It all went without a hitch. Matthew and Heather did not go away for too far or too long as Matthew was studying for his Chartered Accountancy Exams (which he passed with flying colours!) Just heard the results in November. His photo appeared in the Globe and Mail in the ad that Price Waterhouse Coopers puts out each year to congratulate their employees. They hope to go away somewhere in Summer 2006. Heather is in her third year of nursing. Can’t wait to finish the last year! With the 2 years she had previously done in BC, she will have been studying for 6 years total! They are living in an apartment in Kitchener which is great for us as we get to see them fairly often. Matthew works for Price Waterhouse Coopers and has to travel for audits quite a bit. He has been 5 weeks in Hawaii!! Poor Matthew!! The good thing is that Heather got to fly there for free for 6 days as he was away for more than 2 weeks. Company perk!

Another highlight was a visit from David’s brother Peter. He came to see us a week before Heather’s wedding, on his way to a film festival in Texas. He wasn’t able to stay for the wedding because of the festival. He was presenting a film that he has directed. It will be a part of the Sundance Film Festival in California this coming year. Always fun to see him! He has traveled the world (Thailand, Egypt, Cambodia, China, and Russia). David plans to meet up with him in Las Vegas in January of 2006 for a couple of days.

David and I had our first holiday by ourselves in many years. We went down once again to sunny Cocoa Beach in Florida. No, there were no hurricanes when we were there in July! We spent our time lolling by the pool, walking the beach and reading. Two great weeks.

I also managed to get a trip in to see Susan and Tyler in Lethbridge, Alberta in early April. I am planning to go and see them once again in January 2006. They always keep projects for me to do! I find great joy in being able to help in any way, whether painting, organizing, gardening or cleaning. So many times I wish they were closer so I could just pop over for coffee!! But I am very thankful that I get to see them a couple of times a year (whether in Ontario or Lethbridge). They are coming out for Christmas so we are very excited. Susan has left working at Lethbridge College and is now helping run the family businesses. This keeps her busy but also gives her flexibility with her time. I should be able to see much more of her this January than in previous visits.

Another special highlight was Tory’s graduation in June 2005. Hard to believe that all my girls are done high school! Instead of going straight into university, Tory has taken this time to be in an internship program with 9 other people at our church. She is thoroughly enjoying the course. One of the highlights will be their missions’ trip to The Philippines in May 2006. Next year she will be going to Wilfred Laurier University for Global Studies (focusing on Latin American culture). Her third year will be spent in a Latin American country (don’t know the details yet). She also is working part-time at a nursing home as a dietary aide. Thank goodness she has her own car as she is up and about most of the time!!

We never did get to visit the UK last summer due to Heather’s wedding, but we are definitely going this July. We still hope to visit Paris and some of Scotland. Tory will be coming with us. She did go to England when she was 5 years old and doesn’t remember much!!

We became members of Koinonia Christian Fellowship! We have been attending there now for nearly 2 years and love every moment of it. We are making some new friends and we are involved in various different departments. Although David is away much of the time, he is involved in the greeting department when he is around.

Well, that is 2005 in a nutshell!

My prayer for each of you in this coming New Year is from Romans 15:13:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With all our love,

David, Diana and Tory

Macfarlane News 2006

May the joy of this Christmas season continue to be with you and your family as you enter the New Year 2007!!The time to reflect over this last year is upon me once again!! I always enjoy this time as it reminds me of the many blessings we have received as a family over 2006 . Here is an updated family photo taken last December.

Highlights of 2006:

• Trip to Argentina for Diana
• Holiday in Paris and London with David and Tory
• Surprise visit from Tyler and Susan for Thanksgiving
• Theatre shows throughout the year together with friends

DAVID

David seems to have travelled the world in 2006 as he preached in Argentina, Trinidad and Guatemala, as well as his yearly trips across our wonderful country of Canada. In March 2007 he will be travelling to New Zealand and Australia (I plan to tag along with him as I've always wanted to visit this part of the world, in spite of the very long plane flights!!). Presently he is working on his first book which he hopes to have published by Fall 2007. He also managed to take the time to meet his brother Peter in Las Vegas. They had a wonderful time together. I think they took in 6 different shows in 4 days!!

DIANA

Still working at the University of Waterloo Graduate Studies Office. It has been a very busy time, sometimes overwhelming, as graduate studies is increasing the number applicants but the staff remains the same!! I did manage to take a couple of trips to visit Tyler and Susan in Lethbridge, Alberta (once in February and once in December). In December I took my mum (Peggy Jackson - 86 years old) with me. We helped them unpack the last of the boxes from their move to a new home last August. I miss having them around! In April I returned to Argentina after an absence of more than 30 years (never gone back since I left in 1975!) The icing on the cake was taking Susan with me. I showed her all the places where I grew up (Devoto, Martinez, a trip on the Tigre, downtown BA, Devoto School, St. Andrew's School, shopping on Florida and at the flea market). All the getting around was thanks to Peter Macfarlane and my friend Monica Garcia Marchi who looked after us wonderfully. We stayed with Billy and Mary Murchison in their beautiful home in Olivos. I also met with many of my school friends who I hadn't seen in over 35 years - what fun that was!!!In July David, Tory and I took a holiday to Paris for 4 days before travelling on to London to stay with my sister Anne and her husband Nigel. None of us had been to Paris before and we all fell in love with it! Great sights and great food!! London was a time of running around visiting art galleries, museums, castles, churches, theatre show and MANY train stations & subway stations. Tory hadn't been in London since she was 5 years old!

TORY

Tory turned 19 in July. She finished her internship at our church in June. It culminated with a trip to The Philippines where they led youth camp, went to an orphanage and spoke at a church. In all, it was a wonderful learning experience. Tory cut her hair!! She decided to donate her long hair to the Cancer Society to make a wig for someone who has lost her hair due to chemo. In September she started her first year at Wilfrid Laurier University majoring in Global Studies and Spanish (surprise, surprise!!). So far she is loving it! She plans to study abroad in her third year (more than likely it will be Spain). She's taking a few days after Christmas to spend with 14 of her friends from the internship, up at a cottage. Should be a busy but fun time!

TYLER AND SUSAN

Having just come back from Lethbridge, I can tell you that they live very busy lives!! Young people these days are so much more entrepreneurial than we ever were! They are running so many businesses! Susan and Tina (Tyler's brother Rob's wife) look after running two car washes; the boys take care of an irrigation business and a seed-coating business as well as some dealings with Esso. They don't have much down time but they did manage to fit in a surprise visit to see us in Ontario in October. The best surprise ever for David and me!! They got to sleep in some and didn't need to worry about cell phones ringing!! Susan turned 26 this Christmas!

MATTHEW AND HEATHER

They have been married 1 1/2 years! Heather (now 23) has just finished her last semester in Nursing!! She is extatic! Finally no more studying! (6 years of university behind her). She does have to write her final exam on February 7 and her graduation won't be till June. (She studied through last summer so she could finish earlier and start working). She has a job at Guelph Hospital starting January and will be working in the Intensive Care Unit. She loves what she does. Matthew continues to work at Price Waterhouse Coopers although there could be some changes coming down the pipe for 2007.

For those of you who know my Mum, she turned 86 years old in September, lives at Holland Christian Homes in Brampton, Ontario in her own apartment, and keeps as busy as always feeding patients in the nursing home, coordinates the volunteers for foot care and eye care, visits those that need a friend and anything else that needs doing. She is not without aches and pains, but she doesn't like to make a big deal about them when there is so much to be thankful for! She loves to have her family around her. She is often either at Paul and Chris' or at our home for the weekends. She particularly loves it when Anne comes to visit for a couple of weeks each year from London. I try and visit her every Monday and help out with grocery shopping, or taking her to different appointments. She is very proud of the fact that she passed her driving test so can continue driving!! She doesn't drive out of the Brampton area but she likes her independence!!

I think that updates you on what the Macfarlane family has been up to in 2006. It truly was a blessed year. The fact that God cares about all the little details in each of our lives never ceases to amaze me! He is an AWESOME God!

With all our love,

David and Diana

PS: With all the tragedy and fear going on in this world, my verse for 2007 is Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!".

Macfarlane News 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It feels good to connect once again with friends and family and reminisce over all the events of 2008. Once again, so much has happened and we have so much to be thankful for!!

ABIGAIL GRACE DUNCAN - Our first grandchild

The first wonderful news we received in early February was that Tyler and Susan were expecting!! Yes, we now carry the proud name of 'Grandparents' and we love it!! Abigail Grace (Abby) was born on September 3rd, one whole month earlier than expected!! She weighed in at 5.5 lbs. She was very well looked after in the neo-natal ward at Lethbridge Hospital for 8 days before being allowed home. I was blessed to fly to Lethbridge the day after her birth and stay for a couple of weeks helping wherever I could and of course enjoying holding Abby as much as possible! She is so adorable! Tyler, Susan and Abby were here visiting the first week of December - their Christmas visit. It was lovely for the rest of my family to make their acquaintance with Abby.

DAVID

David once again travelled a good portion of 2008 speaking at conferences, giving seminars and talking in churches across Canada. The highlight of the year for him is always our summer trip to Florida where we spent a couple of weeks at a friend's condo in Venice Beach - always a relaxing time. The latest news is that he has taken on a new job starting in January as the Director of National Initiatives with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada.

DIANA

I continue to enjoy my job at the church looking after the database. Learning the software has been a stretching and fulfilling time. It's good to know that I can still learn the latest technology of 'online' registrations, payments, etc. I took some days to visit with Tyler and Susan earlier in the year as well as my visit when Abby was born. My fitness routine has not been very consistent this year, so we finally purchased a treadmill which allows me to continue to walk, even during our long Ontario winter, right from the comfort of our own home which I'm very thankful for.

TORY


Tory is half way through her second year of Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. At the same time she continues to work in construction (drywalling, sanding and painting). She is involved in teaching dance as well as taking dance lessons herself. When she has some spare time, she makes time for her art (painting with temperas).

She also enjoyed dancing in New York Times Square with her dance team. Also managed to take in a show "Hairspray".


TYLER AND SUSAN

They continue to run their many businesses which doesn't leave them too much time off. Now with Abby around, Susan has more time to be at home. They did spend some time in White Fish and Arizona with Tyler's parents and came to visit us just a couple of weeks ago to show Abby off to family and friends! Abby is so cute! She is a true delight! You can be sure David and I will make some 'extra' trips to Lethbridge whenever we can!

MATTHEW AND HEATHER

Matthew continues to expand his barbecue and fireplace business (they run 3 stores). Heather has been working at our local city hospital floating between the ER and Oncology departments. She has taken on a full-time job in ER starting in January. She loves the hussle and bussle of ER. She has a ton of stories to tell, some funny and some very sad. They bought a dog early in the year (Ella - a miniature dashund). She keeps them quite busy. They are very excited to go to Mexico in January for a week's holiday that they both very much deserve.

My mum turned 88 in September. She continues to enjoy helping people in her retirement complex whenever she can. She did give up her driving this year after a minor accident in the church parking lot which was very sad for her - she misses her independence!

Each of us wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy 2009!

Blessings,

David, Diana, Tory

My Bible verse for you for 2009: John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Macfarlane News 2007

Dear Friends and Family:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow! Each year seems to get shorter and shorter!! I'm sure it was just the other day that I was writing our 2006 year end newsletter!! But then again, so much transpired during 2007 that it's probably why it sped by!! The opportunities and blessings that God has placed in our hands have been many and I continue to give thanks to Him for His faithfulness in seeing us through the good and through the storms that we have experienced. The chorus of a great hymn comes to mind: "Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!" These are my final words for 2007.

DAVID
David has had another year full of travelling across Canada, speaking at different churches, conferences, seminars, radio & TV programs and enjoying every minute of it, even though his physical body sometimes complained about jet lag! He also got a chance to travel and speak to EFC in New Zealand and Australia promoting one of the projects he had led for the last 2 years successfully bringing churches and denominations together across Canada.

In April we had a visit from David's brother Peter. It's always fun having him here - never a dull moment!!
In May we went to visit David's Uncle Chris in Michigan (he was staying with David's cousin Cathy and Murray. Uncle Chris is 99 years old!
The highlight for David is always our 3 week holiday in sunny, warm Florida which we took in July. He would love to retire there, where there is no cold weather EVER and it's always sunny!
DIANA
I was blessed with being able to join David on his trip to New Zealand and Australia, thanks to my sister Anne who purchased my flight for me. She is such a blessing to me - more than I can ever have asked for! It had always been a dream of mine to visit these two countries and I was not disappointed. We landed in New Zealand and visited Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Rotorua. I fell in love with NZ and could quite easily retire there, but only if I had my WHOLE family living there also.... which is not possible... so I think I will just visit and keep living in Canada!! Then we flew to Melbourne and Sydney. I can't say that I saw Australia by just travelling to these two cities, but it was such a fun time visiting all the sites! I got to meet with my 3rd cousin Wendy and her husband in Sydney whom I hadn't seen since 1973! On our way home we stopped in Oahu, Hawaii, just to shorten the long flight (of course!!). The last time we'd been there was in 1976 when David worked for Wardair.

In September, between jobs, I took two weeks to visit Susan and Tyler in Lethbridge where I had my first motorcycle ride!!; and also visited with my friend Marg in Chilliwack, BC. Marg and I took two days to hike in beautiful Manning Park. I was blown away by the majesty of the beautiful mountains and realized how much I missed them!! We had such a fun time talking and walking!! Also managed to fit a lunch in with many of my friends in Chilliwack! God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends!

In October my Mum and I visited England, thanks once again to Anne who gave Mum and I our flight to England as our birthday present. Mum turned 87 and wanted to travel to England one more time to visit some of her friends. She managed to visit all but one, who she talked to on the phone. The three of us had lots of fun taking walks, playing games and just hanging out together.

At the end of August I resigned from my job at the University of Waterloo and took on the job as administrator of the new database at our church. It's a huge project and a steep learning curve. This database allows for online registrations of events, online giving, tracking of attendance in Children's Church or any other event, and much more. Now that the first three months are behind me, I feel I am making headway. I have my goals and expectations in line.

VICTORIA
Victoria has changed her course of studies - she is going to pursue Interior Design which she has always had a flair for. She started working with a construction/painting/renovation company and is putting her talents to practice. She starts taking night classes in January 2008. She's also travelled quite a bit, going to New York in May to an outreach in Times Square called "Project Dance", she is loving being able to dance! As well, she went with her work to the Bahamas on the cruise! If only I had a job that would do that! It's always exciting to see your children pursue their dreams! She is also very much into music and dancing! She is the 'artsy' one in the family.. definitely a Macfarlane trait!!

SUSAN AND TYLER
Susan and Tyler are still very busy managing their different businesses in Lethbridge, Alberta and don't have much time to rest! But they are young and have lots of energy!! They did have time to take a short trip to San Francisco and Phoenix where they golfed lots and sat outside in the hot sun. Susan just finished helping plan the Women's Christmas Event at their church where she did the advertising and promotions. She also has been having fun practicing for the Christmas choir and drama presentation at their church. Tyler and Susan will be here for 5 days over Christmas which I am excited about!

HEATHER AND MATTHEW
It is so good to have Matthew and Heather living just 8 blocks from us. They moved from their rented apartment and bought their first home. Matthew is busy visioning and expanding the family fireplace and barbecue stores. They have two stores right now but are planning on opening a third one in 2008. If he is not working, he likes to play ice hockey. Heather had her graduation ceremony in June and now has a full time job as a registered nurse at our local hospital in the Emergency and Oncology wards. She is loving her job -most of the time anyhow - although sometimes it gets quite hazardous!!

Now you all are up to date with the Macfarlane news!

May you have a blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

David & Diana