I have a habit of listening to, and inviting myself into, other people's conversations. So the other day, as I was making a purchase, I was intrigued by the clerk's comment: "I'm looking for shirt stays." "Shirt stays?" I inquired as I …( 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 )

The other day, I was sitting reading, when the sun burst forth, streaming through my window. The window held a recent stained glass piece that I had hung to allow it to dry fully. As the sunbeams hit the already beautiful glass, every …( read more )

A couple of years ago, we added a rockery to our church campus through a gracious donation from some church members. It was built on the side of a slope which had been perpetually covered in moss and weeds. The whole area, right next to …( read more )

Springtime is usually the time when I replant my indoor plants into fresh new potting soil. As I was transplanting the plants into bigger pots, I noticed that one plant had grown so much that it almost touched the ceiling. It was long and …( read more )

Last fall, a friend gave me a flourishing dipladenia plant, a beautiful flowering vine. She was reluctant to abandon it outside, but she had no space indoors. My living room already houses several plants, but how could I refuse those …( read more )

While I was eating lunch with my sister-in-law and her little lad about three-and-a-half years of age, my sister-in-law's phone rang, and she left the table to answer. Just then, the little lad finished his bowl of spaghetti and cheese, …( read more )

Have you noticed how often the apostle Paul opens his letters with expressions of thanksgiving for people, specifically the believers? – I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. *(1 Corinthians 1:4 NIV …( read more )

Preaching from the book of Leviticus, my pastor recently discussed the significance of the eighth day in light of biblical teaching. His message inspired me to explore this idea. Interestingly, the eighth day may be likened to a musical …( read more )

My brother is five years my elder. Later in life, five years doesn't seem like much of an age difference, but when one is young, it's quite a difference. When I was young and going through the changes and growing that take place in a young …( read more )

Whatever I once was, in Christ I am no longer. One by one, the youth of our church paraded before a troubled teenager and hung unwelcome signs around her neck as the congregation listened to the contemporary Christian song, *Beauty from …( read more )

Supposedly, it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. While the saying has been around for quite some time, the numbers used to prove the conclusion vary with each story. In spite of the discrepancies, the basic premise is …( read more )

I have suffered on and off from depression since I was about ten years of age. My depression is caused from a hereditary dietary problem; the two things go hand in hand. I can be fine for days or weeks or months and then the darkness …( read more )

Giving thanks doesn't rate highly in the socially-networked world where everyone is texting — very often to the person sitting next to them. Too many of us are so busy being "connected" that we have become disengaged from the world …( read more )

Have you ever wondered what true freedom really is? The dictionary defines it as the power to do what we want to do and to go where we want to go without being controlled; not being a slave or prisoner; not having or being affected by …( read more )

I was lying on my bed, listening for the familiar sounds that come before someone falls asleep. I could hear my parents talking, and I was wishing that they would go to sleep already. My room, located off the kitchen … (read more)

When spring arrives in upstate New York and the blanket of snow finally recedes, it reveals a landscape of bare trees and matted vegetation. The harsh effects of a punishing winter are evident. But as the weather warms and the … (read more)

In 1980, our estranged family reunited after we became reconciled to Lord Jesus. Such mercy and grace! Praise His ever-saving name! I'd been lovingly warned, but inside and outside, the old farmhouse appeared exceedingly beyond its hundred-year age — every … (read more)

During a past frightening experience, a young, panic-stricken woman unexpectedly walked into the home where our weekly Bible study group was in progress. She was hyperventilating and her hands were shaking. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of a … (read more)

Have you ever done something in your life that you regret now, and you wish that it had never happened and that you could start all over again? I know I have, and not only once, but a few times. … (read more)

A number of years ago, my wife and I were attending a function in Maine, USA, just over the border from where we live. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The fellowship with friends was wonderful. At one o'clock, they … (read more)

Sometimes, life's most valuable lessons begin with failure. Recently, I embarked on one of these lessons by allowing thoughtless words to fly unchecked. Too late to retrieve them, I found myself in an acute state of unrest and basic dysfunction. … (read more)

Years ago, in the early days of my walk with Jesus, I attended my first retreat weekend with a group of women. The main theme was about each believer's choice to have, or not to have, a closer relationship with … (read more)

Having a father who was a gardener and loved to be outside planting and working the soil has left a deep impression on my life. Recently, as I was cutting the lawn, a co-worker passed by and stopped to chat. … (read more)

In the spring, our neighbourhood was busy with people working on their lawns after a long winter. People were out raking, seeding, replacing sections with rolls of sod, and cutting their grass. In the early spring, we did not have … (read more)

The time came for me to buy a new computer, and I had some decisions to make. Should I continue with a Windows PC, knowing that I would have to obtain some new software, or should I choose something totally … (read more)

Many of my days begin with an early morning trip to the YMCA for water aerobics. I'm not interested in breakfast at this early hour, but I've found that if I'm to discipline my body in exercise for a full … (read more)

As I did not inherit a green thumb from my parents or have any particular interest in gardening, it did not occur to me that there was a "growing season" for flowers and plants. We were living in Goose Bay, … (read more)

We travel to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, once a week via a major highway, and along the way, there is a garden centre. From early spring until fall, trees are lined up, row after row. I have watched these trees in … (read more)

As a child, I was often compared to my siblings. Of course, I never measured up to the rest. It hurt. It caused me to withdraw, to condemn myself, to feel insecure, to feel worthless. I carried that with me … (read more)

Some years ago, I became a Canadian citizen. I love Canada. I love the wide expanse of this wonderful country with its breath-taking Rocky Mountains, and the constant motion of the oceans which line our land on the east and … (read more)

My granddaughter and I love to put jigsaw puzzles together. We begin by placing all the pieces on the dining room table and spreading them so that every piece is in plain view. We have learned through experience to do … (read more)

In downtown Thomasville, Georgia, there is a giant live oak tree, an American species of evergreen oak. It is 323 years old and 68 feet tall, and has a trunk circumference of 24 feet. Its limb spread is 162 feet, … (read more)