FORGET - Some people move due to work obligations, others feel they need to live closer to family, but for Ted and Edda Horsburgh, they moved to Forget because God said this is where they should be.
Ted was born in Alliston, Ont. He was raised a town kid, and to this day his sister still remains in the town.
Edda was born in Hamilton, but her family moved around a lot. Her family immigrated from Germany in 1951 after the Second World War, and they moved to where they could find work.
Ted had a normal childhood, but Edda had one of abuse from her grandfather, and this caused issues later in life.
Ted moved to St. Catharines, where he became an instrumental music teacher. He plays several instruments, including the piano, organ, violin, clarinet, and cello to name a few.
Ted married and six days before his 10th anniversary in 1987, his 42-year-old wife passed away from cancer, leaving him a single parent.
During those 10 years Edda was also married but became divorced, and married again, and once again divorced. She felt she had married jerks and Edda no longer had trust in men; this left her as a single mother.
Due to the challenges of work and being a single parent, she requested a stress leave.
Wanting more out of life, she received a partial grant to go to university for mature students and took religious studies and philosophy, with a minor in German.
It was at this time Edda began to see a counsellor to help guide her in life. Her counsellor was a Christian and she questioned him on why he was different. Edda still having issues with men, could feel that this man was at peace in his life, and she wanted this too.
He explained to Edda that he was a Christian and told her about God and how He guides his life. Edda found this remarkably interesting, to say the least, as she was not a Christian at the time.
The next time she met with her counsellor he was late, and he told Edda he had met with a friend who had lost his wife. At the time Edda did not know this was Ted.
During Edda’s journey, she found God on May 13, 1988. She felt His presence in every being of her body. She attended a small country church, and Edda felt the peacefulness and beauty in life. The piano player at this church was Ted and Edda thought he looked grumpy, not realizing that this was the man who had lost his wife.
As the months passed, she attended a Bible study group and it was at Ted’s home. They began to talk and went to a conference in Orangeville, Ont., where they talked even more about the issues they had encountered in their lives. Neither of them was looking for a relationship, but they both could feel God's presence, and this was the right relationship for them.
It was March 1989 and they knew this was the right move. They became engaged and on Dec. 26 they became husband and wife. Edda still had trust issues but through the work of God, He showed her that Ted was the one to help her with this.
In 1990, they moved to Elliott Lake in northern Ontario were Ted received a teaching job, which they believe was a calling from God.
In 1997 Ted became an ordained minister and retired from teaching in 2001.
The couple moved around a little through Ted’s pastoring call, but they returned to Elliott Lake in 2014 and remained there. In 2022, the couple asked God for guidance in their lives and what was next for them, and He told them to move to Saskatchewan. Edda said some people think this is a little crazy, but it is exactly what He told them.
They had never been to Saskatchewan, but believing that God knows what is best, they came here to look at houses, which brought them to Forget.
Buying a quaint little place that needed some fixing up, they moved in the spring of 2022 and attend the Stoughton Apostolic Church where Ted might preach once in a while.
This was a substantial change for the seniors but keeping God in the centre of their lives, they believe this was the right move.
Their first winter was interesting as they had no idea that this province could get so cold and how the wind could howl, so the following winter they went south.
Although they liked the warmer weather of the south, they missed their friends and socials they had come to love.
Ted and Edda love the peacefulness here and the people are great, they say.
“People seem much more relaxed here,” they said.
Although they are not sure yet why God picked Saskatchewan for them, and they do miss their children, they are sure about their love for each other and the love they have for God.
