In November of last year, I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, along with my daughter and several others from my church. It was an amazing experience to walk the same ancient paths that Jesus walked and to see a number of …( read more )

Nostalgic 1940s twelve-pack gift books of Life Savers® and tins of hard Christmas candy in every colour of the rainbow were available at the corner pharmacy. There was candy wrapped in personalized Scripture, boldly printed for us to …( read more )

Throughout my career, I was involved in many projects. Some were small, lasting a few hours or days, involving few people, and having little financial impact. Some were enormous, lasting months or years, involving large teams of people, …( read more )

"Let's go to that quilt show that I saw in the paper," I tell my best friend, also a quilter. And off we go to another display of creations by dedicated quilters. Most shows also have vendors — salespeople with a variety of tools, small …( read more )

I look forward to spring, not only because of the work in my garden, but also for the many household chores involved. In a sudden surge of energy, spring cleaning includes washing blankets and polishing floors, reorganizing closets and …( read more )

Lately, I've been googling everything. If I need a recipe, I can google it. If I want to know how many calories or carbs are in a certain food, I can google it. If I want to find out where a restaurant is located in a city when I'm …( read more )

The other day, I accompanied my husband to an early morning appointment with his eye surgeon. As he presented himself at the counter, I looked around for a good place to sit. My eyes were drawn to a row of six or seven empty chairs. …( read more )

Did you, like me, write your first letters on a slate with chalk? In Jesus' day, it is said that, as a reward, teachers in Hebrew synagogue schools would put honey on the slates of children doing well. They were then allowed to lick the …( read more )

In an Advent liturgy presented in our church, one word leaped off the page at me: "Expectations". That word rattled around in my brain for the rest of the service. What was so special about that word? As I reflected, I realized that I …( read more )

Isn't it interesting that the Bible begins and ends with the light? God is goodness and light. Darkness is equated with sin and evil. As a new immigrant in Canada, I walked home alone one evening in the dark. I was confident because I …( read more )

Recently, I had the opportunity to worship in one of the churches that my mother and I used to visit together. It was an early morning service, and the small church — no more than a chapel, really — was nearly empty when I arrived. I …( read more )

The woodpeckers are back. I hear their insistent rat-a-tat-tat from morning until evening. At home or in the bush while I am walking, they are hard at it, looking for the fulfillment of nourishment as they drill into trees in search of …( read more )

"Judge carefully" … "Do not judge" … "Judge for yourself" … "Stop judging" – the Bible Well, is it okay to judge or not? The above texts aren't helpful, are they? It's no wonder: They're extracted from their contexts! Furthermore, …( read more )

I try to begin my days with a cup of coffee and my time with God. I begin with a few online meditations and continue into whichever specific book of the Bible that I have been studying. I know that my days unfold much better when I start …( read more )

One text message can change the course of a life. She really didn't want to come to church that Sunday night. After all, they were just showing the movie, God's Not Dead. But her husband wanted to come, so she obliged. Near the end of …( read more )

With the coming of winter in the north, the cold, dry air quickly takes its toll on a person's skin. One must learn to be prepared and diligent to prevent problems. So each winter, I begin to use moisturizer, especially on my hands and …( read more )

As a child and teen, I fought my parents' rules tooth and nail, only realizing later how much obeying them had profited me. Forty-seven years later, I can still see the rules hanging in a frame on my bedroom wall. I can't remember them …( read more )

I am a person living with a mental illness. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder many years ago, when I was in my thirties. Given the nature of the illness, I have naturally had ups and downs. Each and every day, I need to make sure …( read more )

I was visiting my brother and his wife in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, USA. Los Angeles, California, where I live, has been in the grip of drought for five years, so you can imagine my measureless delight in the seemingly endless lakes, …( read more )

Many people get tied up with big questions like "What is the meaning of life?" or "What is my life's purpose?" These questions are difficult enough that many people give up trying to answer! But there's an easier, and I think more …( read more )

When reading the psalms in the middle of the Bible, have you noticed that the word Selah is positioned in various places? Speculations abound as to what this undefined word means. It mostly populates the Book of Psalms, where this …( read more )

One was large and the other small, but they both needed to learn a lesson. I once owned an Eskimo Spitz. My family owned a much larger dog that I inherited when they moved away. I lived in the country. There were no leash laws to abide …( read more )

Stones and words have one peculiar feature in common, which I realized after hearing a mom share this story: My four children and I were on an expedition to pick wild berries. I happened to turn over a stone and let the children see what …( read more )

He was a godly man, but suffering caused him to question God's purposes. Ted was driving down the road one day, doing what he did best: visiting members of his church. Though he didn't feel quite right that morning, he decided to work …( read more )

After a few weeks of hanging around with him, I began to wonder who was influencing whom. My father had just returned to the denomination of his upbringing and had been called as interim pastor at the church that he had attended as a …( read more )

Direction determines destination. MapQuest is one of my favourite driving directions applications. Siri is nice, but she tends to misunderstand my southern accent. With MapQuest, I simply plug in my desired destination, and it takes me …( read more )

For as long as I can remember, she has sung. I'm not sure when my mother actually began singing gospel songs. I suppose that it was as a young girl when she gathered with her family on Saturday nights around the old converted player …( read more )

She was a vibrant young teenager, but she had a premonition that she'd never live to see 20 years of age. Rachel Scott was popular at her high school, even though her witness for Christ wasn't always well received. Two students who hated …( read more )

After my salvation experience in 1978, I had an unquenchable desire to read, learn, and understand the Bible. It became my first love. If I heard good lessons from Bible expositors on the radio, I would request their offered cassette …( read more )

Listening to the evening news is enough to make me mad: a police officer who intentionally shoots and kills a man; a man who shoots his parents and then goes to a local business to kill his ex-girlfriend too; the woman who doesn't want …( read more )

Five senses are great, but it's wonderful when the sixth works as well. I enjoy all of my senses. Recently, my eye doctor told me that I was a candidate for glaucoma. Fortunately, the cornea specialist said that it wasn't as bad as it …( read more )

We sat in a small group and talked about appointments and disappointments. When I have an appointment, someone has agreed to meet me at a certain time, or I've agreed to meet them. Disappointment is the difference between my expectations …( read more )

Camping in the mountains without one is a disaster. When my brother, daughter, and I backpacked in the mountains, our goal was for our packs to be as light as possible. Among the things that I chose to leave out, a flashlight wasn't one …( read more )