ZEPHYR & SANDFORD by Pat Asling

Another week has slipped by with a couple of quite nice days to complete tasks and get ready for winter, which came in on Sunday for sure. It sounds like this snowstorm, like the previous wind and rainstorm was over the most of southern Ontario. The forecast says it is warming up again closer to the end of the week, so perhaps by the time you read this, much of this downfall will have melted away. One thing that has happened is that many families have been out and setting up their outside Christmas decorations in an attempt to brighten up the environment. This is surely something we are all going to need as we are now in the Red Zone for Ontario and the Pandemic with some places closed again, just when they got going. We are fortunate we are not in Toronto or Peel though, and hopefully never will. North Durham has not even seen anywhere near the numbers of COVID cases as those of the southern part, but we still have to suffer with them. Undoubtedly there will be those people from Toronto who come out to shop and go to restaurants that are still open in some capacity so we must be vigilant and not forget to wear our masks, keep our distance and wash our hands when returning home. Every store I have been in has lots of hand sanitizer at the door. By the time you read this, it will be just a month until Christmas Day. For some people, Christmas is a rough season as they try to provide for their family. This year will be even harder! Because of COVID some have lost what small jobs they had, money has had to be spent of PPE for themselves and their school-age children, perhaps more computers and internet costs, increased food prices and a myriad of other new costs. If you can, please contribute more to the many organizations in our towns who are trying to assist these people. Loaves and Fishes, Salvation Army, North House, Sunrise pregnancy, the Toy Drive, and other service clubs all need our support to do the work they are called to do. Congratulations to Anna Gill who has worked at Williamson’s for 20 years! Longevity on the workplace today is becoming less common, but Williamson’s must be doing something right as they have a large number of long-time employees. Happy birthday wishes go out to Rev. Carol Baggett. Carol has taken some of our services at our churches and her husband Rick McKinley has taken a great many. Carol serves as a minister at a church in Toronto. Also happy birthday to Gail Williamson! Gail is the former Gail Shier who lived just down the way for her growing up years. Gail now lives in Port Perry with her husband of many years, Alex Williamson. Best wishes to both these lovely ladies! Dwight and Deborah Clement were thrilled a couple of weeks ago to make the acquaintance of their new son-in-law, Doriad, who is Jordanian. He, and their daughter Rachel, were married in Jordan and have been working hard to get his immigration papers. This happened in record time of 7 weeks. Rachel did not tell her parents about this, and so it was a total, wonderful surprise when they showed up on the doorstep one day. Best wishes to all of them! For those of you who may be tired of being called “sheep” as in you are doing what you are told, here is a note from Carol O’Neils service this week for Reign of King Sunday, last of this year. Next week we are into Advent already! The image of “shepherd” is used in the biblical world for “King.” More than any other animal, the word sheep is used over 500 times in the Bible. Sheep are the most important animal in the Bible, and the main measure of prosperity.

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