Fiery trials of life can be very hard, to the point of causing illness or death. When we come out of them, we may feel toasted from the heat. For the Christian, this is the testing of our mettle. It challenges our resilience and …( read more )

From my kitchen window, I enjoy the heavy, low-flying, distinctively coloured, quiet, slow-mannered pair of wood ducks that like to rest on their webbed feet awhile on the horizontal branches of my big, old maple trees almost every morning …( read more )

The Greek word for anxiety is "merimna" which means to be distracted or divided, to fall apart or to be split into pieces. It is a good description of something that we all experience when life hits us hard. One day, everything seems to …( read more )

When I was young, Saturday mornings were spent in front of the television set with my brothers, watching classic Western movies. The golden glow of the American southwest was a far cry from a cool Ontario morning! We loved the cowboys and …( read more )

My dad has dementia. He started to wander and get violent in mid-November 2019. There were two trips to the emergency room in three days, admission to the hospital for twelve days, and then admission into a nursing home. During this …( read more )

The reflection of blue lights flashed in my rear-view mirror. Embarrassed, I pulled over. "Ma'am, can you explain why you were speeding?" "Officer, I wasn't paying attention." When I got home, I looked up the potential consequences: a …( read more )

Margaret Fishback Powers is the author of the poem Footprints in the Sand. The poem appears on pillows, cups, and posters. The theme of the poem is that Jesus is the caring one. Lillian Daniel has a contemporary version of a similar …( read more )

God in His mercy and love has answered many of my prayers. Some situations required an urgent answer; others not so much. When my children were very small, I was at death's door. I was quickly slipping away. I cried to the Lord in …( read more )

I opened the door and let the dogs out at 6:30 a.m., the same as any other morning. As I was coming back into the house, however, I noticed through the living room window that the livestock were going berserk in the corral. At the same …( read more )

I awoke on Saturday night close to 12:00 a.m. with sharp pain in a tooth. After forcing aspirin chips into a tiny cavity that I had previously not known existed, I slept until 6:00 a.m. when pain awoke me. More aspirin chips got me active …( read more )

Today's devotional title may remind you of a bad dream: the nightmarish experience of losing control. What I have in mind is no dream. It's the actual world that we experience: the horrifying absence of brakes on sinful desire — like …( read more )

People were thrilled when we finally got a much-needed dump of snow over a three-day period. It had been so cold and all our previous snow had melted during a warm period, leaving the ground exposed before the temperature dropped almost …( read more )

During the summer, out the window, I watched my three friendly squirrels racing about the yard and up and down their tree. The Lord has used them to teach me many important lessons. Tippy arrived just recently, and is so named because of …( read more )

The first thing that I do every morning is to look out my large bay window to check on the weather. Today, the sky is blue, and the sun is shining brightly. It promises to be a pleasant day, so I head out to walk my dog. It is then that …( read more )

From my kitchen window, I enjoy the heavy, low-flying, distinctively coloured, quiet, slow-mannered pair of wood ducks that like to rest on their webbed feet awhile on the horizontal branches of my big, old maple trees almost every morning …( read more )

I'm terribly allergic to black fly bites. My first encounter with them not only made me itch, but caused me to be bedridden with a low-grade fever for about two weeks. That Sunday, after I climbed from the covers and dressed to do the …( read more )

The sun's rays illuminated the freshly fallen snow outside my living room window. Thousands and thousands of miniature diamonds glistened in the sun. There's nothing like freshly fallen snow. It is pure white, soft, and fluffy as it falls …( read more )

Last year, my friend was the victim of identity theft. A dozen new credit cards were issued, but rarely did the credit card companies call first to confirm. The way identity theft works is that the perpetrator provides a false address …( read more )

After completing my coffee time with the Lord the other morning, I was enjoying the ever-changing panorama that my bay window greets me with every day. Suddenly, my attention was grabbed by the sight of a huge, black crow gliding down to …( read more )

Can you imagine the sorrow that Florida is feeling as they go through an epidemic of violence? Do you recall the promising young singer shot, the mass shootings at a nightclub, and a two-year-old child snatched by an alligator in a lagoon? …( read more )

In 1972, while studying at Montpellier in the south of France, I played tourist one weekend and went exploring the countryside farther east. On that trip, I discovered the ruins of an old town, perched high on a rocky promontory. During …( read more )

Many years ago when I was a young man and a Christian, but not living for the Lord, my life was not what it should have been. Driving from south-western Ontario to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, I picked up a hitchhiker in northern Ontario. …( read more )

"Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace." (Author unknown) My oldest daughter has been undergoing severe back pain for quite some time now. The pain in her lower back is so excruciating, that it has …( read more )

During the week between this past Christmas and New Year's, two white, pea-size eggs were carefully deposited in a nest the dimensions of an enlarged, thumb-sized thimble. The nest had been painstakingly constructed from spider webs and …( read more )

As I was perusing an article in my monthly health magazine, I was astonished to read that 500 to 1000 species of bacteria inhabit our intestines, and that equates to roughly 100 trillion micro-organisms, all prepared to defend our bodies …( read more )

When I was very young, we lived in a small cabin out on the family homestead some miles beyond the small village of Forest Grove here in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. There was no electricity or such utilities back then. …( read more )

I watched anxiety darken her face. Where would the money come from? Our family budget has taken a severe hit over the last five years. Recently, we struggled through a summer without the income my wife was receiving from keeping an …( read more )

I love my dog Sparky very much, but sometimes, he nearly drives me crazy with his endless barking. He seems to bark at anything that moves: people, squirrels, cars, anything. Half the time, when I look outside, I don't see what he is …( read more )

I have become accustomed to a ritual in my life, which has become a must in order for my mind to function: drinking my daily coffee. My doctor is not very fond of this practice; it has just become habit. The rush that I receive from my …( read more )

My wife and I, along with her dad, decided to visit her mother in the hospital following her surgery. Before I left home, I pulled out a couple of frozen prime steaks and placed them on the kitchen counter to thaw while we were away, …( read more )

Almost 60 years ago when I was a young child, my father supported our family by working shifts in an auto parts manufacturing plant. When my dad worked nights or afternoons, he slept during part of the day. I internalized a rule, "Don't …( read more )

Every day, I walk my dog, Sparky, down a long trail with woods on both sides. It's good exercise for both of us. He loves to sniff around and run back and forth while I just sort of plod along, … (read more)

Once the snow has melted and the ground has thawed, I stop filling the bird feeder on a regular basis. It is during this early window of springtime when the mother squirrels are fattening themselves up that they commandeer the … (read more)