Weekly Letter from Ron & Mary Kernohan

August 28, 2026

GREETINGS TO ALL!

We are getting ready to say goodbye to the warmth of August and stride into the growing richness of September. Apples will be ripening; all sorts of late summer treats will be appearing on our shelves. In addition, we will be welcoming back our friends who have been travelling through the summer months. During our fellowship time, we will get to hear all sorts of stories about their travels. May this week’s newsletter help you to get caught up with all that will be taking place in the days to come.

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WEEKLY and UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

DISCOVERY CLASS will be on Sunday at 9:30 am in the church gym.

FITNESS WITH FRIENDS is scheduled to resume on September 14. For those looking forward to Fitness with Friends, consider bringing along a friend and learn together some of the ways to create functional fitness, from fall prevention, or reducing the effects of a fall, to creating a sustainable lifestyle of health and vitality.

Remember that Fitness with Friends will not be held if there are weather advisories in effect…and in Calgary, there can be all kinds of interesting weather challenges! So, in the event of such advisories, please stay home and enjoy your at-home workouts. (Some of you … know… what to do!)  : - )

Fitness with Friends will not be held if:

1) If there is a weather advisory in effect, or

2) If the temperature falls to, or goes below, -20C (and some long-time Calgarians can tell you some weather stories to curl your hair!)

For either of these two conditions, please stay home and enjoy your at-home workouts.

PICKLEBALL is held on Thursdays starting at 9:00 am, and all ages are welcome.

WOMEN’S PRAYER AND SHARE will continue on September 16 at 10:00 am.  Women of all ages are welcome.  Babysitting provided.

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The next ENCORE will be September 9th at noon. Cost is $15.00 for a delicious hot lunch.  

The speaker will be Jutta Whitmeier of Mainsprings– a non-profit that helps Pregnant women and their children.

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PRAYER REQUESTS‍ ‍

• Please continue to pray for those who are going through difficult times, and the recently bereaved.

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Meditation

This week I celebrated my birthday, and in doing so, I was looking forward to the many fun things a birthday usually brings. Instead, because of recent injuries, I was unable to travel about, so I decided to simply enjoy the quiet beauty of my own neighborhood.

As I walked, a phrase from 1 Timothy 6:17 kept running through my mind: God “gives us all things richly to enjoy.”

So, I looked around me… and my heart was profoundly touched. I saw apples ripening on trees. I sampled wild raspberries in back-alley lots. I watched children playing in the park, laughing for the sheer joy of being active and free. Small, seemingly innocuous things—yet each one brought that verse vividly to life.

When I finished my walk and returned to my suite, I opened my laptop to look up the full passage. I was struck by the context surrounding the line I had remembered. It was a cautionary word from the Apostle Paul to those with wealth, warning them not to become haughty or trust in uncertain riches. Instead, we are commanded—yes, commanded—to remember that it is God who gives us all things, from the humble to the awesome, to enjoy richly.

Building wealth is fine, and it can certainly be used to help others and bring joy. However, no amount of money can buy back lost minutes of love, purchase extra hours of life, or restore a missed opportunity to bless someone.

May we take those words. written to young pastor Timothy, deeply to heart. Let us invest the precious seconds of our lives in what matters for eternity—the kind of life Jesus described in Matthew 25: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and welcoming the stranger. It means recognizing that in every face God directs us to see, we are looking into the eyes of Jesus, who is looking right back and saying, “I am here. This is your opportunity to enjoy this moment... your opportunity to love Me.”

I often think back to my dear Hebrew professor at seminary, Dr. J. Gordon Harris. He gave me shirts when I had none, found slacks I could never have afforded, and welcomed me to his table for meal after meal. One day he told me, “Paul, learn to take big bites out of life, and let the crumbs dribble down your chin. Enjoy all that God has given you, and then give back as freely as you have been given.”

I have sometimes failed to live up to those words. But this week, without lavish gifts or big celebrations, I received something far better: a restored memory, a timeless verse, and the chance to truly savor life—to enjoy God and all that He has given to me, richly.

…by Paul Miller,

Ron Kernohan, pastor of seniors.