Update from Shane & Sharon Wieler

This is the third in a series of personal updates from members of St. James. Please send your story to Fr. Chris and he will post it to the website and/or send it out in the e-blast. We would all love to hear from you!

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Here's the update from the Wieler household....one more day until traveler isolation ends!!!!!!!

So, we are into Day 13 of our “Travellers’ Isolation” and so far we are both healthy and doing well. I must admit, I have not really felt very isolated! I have Shane close by; we’re luxuriating in having ALL THREE meals together. Father Chris sends frequent updates, which have been a great blessing and now updates from others in our church community help us to feel connected!  Although I really miss the face-to-face interaction, I am so thankful for the ability to still find a bit of that connection through the wonders of technology. Our neighbours and family have made sure we have the supplies we need, and we are so thankful that we sit on two and a half acres so we can actually get outside without worrying about the “social distancing” piece. That’s such a misnomer, isn’t it? A psychologist on the radio agreed and said we should be calling it physical distancing. Brilliant!

As for occupying the days during this isolation, I’m actually very, very busy these days getting online learning up and running for my students on Google Classroom and helping my colleagues do so as well. It’s been absolutely wonderful connecting with each of my families and ensuring that the learning continues. You certainly don’t need a “bricks and mortar” school to bring education to kids. I continue to work full time from my home office and so far, it seems to be going well for most of my families. Every morning I send out a devotional passage to the class to start their day and then they dive into the activities I’ve posted for them. I may even venture into the realm of YouTube to post video lessons………

But it hasn’t been ALL business. I have to say I am absolutely loving the chance to get the vegetable and flower gardens prepped! I even planted some early seeds this week, something that we’ve NEVER had time to do before. Shane has played a huge role in this venture. Since he is not able to go into his shop, he’s been doing a lot of necessary outside work. I think he should be up for recognition by our local conservation authorities for his war against the invasive Buckthorn! (Truth be known, we have kind of let the things grow rampant on our property, but at least now we have the chance to get on top of it!) I only wish I had taken “before” and “after” shots of some of the areas he’s cleared. It’s amazing!

As for Shane’s work (outside of yard maintenance), we really don’t know what the future will hold. With all the orchestras shutting down world-wide, and many of those players laid off without pay, one wonders how many bassoonists will be sending their instruments up for their annual tune-ups, let alone repairs. We've had lots of discussions about what the future may hold. Still, he is looking forward to getting into his shop to retrieve a few instruments, bring them home to our studio, and complete the jobs that are already in process. We’ve decided it is in our best interest to keep things at home as much as possible. In all of this, we continue to trust in God to guide us through these next few months.

I will leave you with one final thought. In our staff devotions this week (on Zoom), we shared one Thorn and one Rose....here are mine:

Thorn: Rural Internet....ARRRGH!!!!! (We've been hot spotting off our phones since returning from our vacation because our home WiFi is down and of course Bell can't have anyone in the house!)

Rose: Shane and I have luxuriated in the extra time together even while we get work done. No hour and a half per day commuting, no separate work spaces (well at least they are A LOT closer together), all meals together (sometimes out on the deck in the sunshine.), space to think and to pray!

Shane and I sincerely hope all of you are managing well through these uncertain times. You are in our prayers daily and remember, God’s got this! He will carry us through as we have seen again and again through history.

Shane & Sharon