I put my mitts down for a matter of seconds while I was working on the deck. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Simon, my five-month-old dachshund, nip one and take off with it. Oh, well, I thought. I could see the direction that he …( read more )

Recently, I entered the elevator and met a fellow resident who had been absent from meals for several days. Assuming that she had been away visiting her family, I asked if she had had a good break. Valerie responded, "If you consider …( read more )

I was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Approximately fifteen miles south-east of Sarnia is a smaller town called Petrolia. In 1858, a road was constructed connecting these two locations. The land was flat and the road was straight, so it …( read more )

My son-in-law made a trip to Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, to pick up supplies for their business. While he was there, he also picked up a small tent trailer that I had purchased online a year previously and had left with friends until …( read more )

With a fifth child on the way and in need of more space, we bravely knocked on the door of a big, old house. My husband and I had just heard that the owners were thinking of selling. That day, we began our very own "It's a Wonderful Life" …( read more )

"I need this thing …". So begins the customer's request upon arrival at the hardware store. My husband, the employee, must next discern what is needed. "They don't always know what it's called," he said to me. "They don't know what's …( read more )

On several occasions this month, I have had an automated telephone call saying, "Thank you for making your purchase of a mobile phone with …". It goes on to say that if the item is not my purchase, all I have to do is to press "1" on …( read more )

At the side of our farm house, there were two majestic silver maple trees that were as high as the peak of the roof. Their shade covered the veranda through the hot days of summer. Each summer, we had many different songbirds that helped …( read more )

During the summer when I walk to our city park, I take bags and a grabber to pick up trash along the side of the road. As I pick up plastic drink bottles, straws, miniature liquor bottles, and assorted other trash, I mutter about "those …( read more )

Here in Cheltenham, on the edge of town, we have a world-renowned racecourse that holds events. It is a massive area that occasionally becomes a village in its own right. Just before the COVID-19 shutdown in early March, we had one such …( read more )

Each spring, the melting snow and ice upstream cause the Ottawa River to rise to a roaring torrent, crashing over the Chaudiere Falls near Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, barrelling on its way to meet the St. Lawrence River, and eventually, …( read more )

In early March, as I sat in the car, waiting for the parents to leave the car park, I noticed a grandmother with a small boy, no more than six years old. She was encouraging the lad to get into school. He wanted the grandmother to walk to …( 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 )

This summer, I received an unexpected and surprising email. It was from the husband of one of the writers of the PresbyCan Daily devotionals. In Walmart, he had met my cousins, with whom he had been friends for many years, and he had …( read more )

When I was a kid, my friends didn't want to play what I wanted to play, so my response was often less than Christian. I'd go whining home to Mom, who dried my tears and fed me cookies or brownies, washed down with a glass of cold milk. …( read more )

As the anniversary of 9/11 arrives once again, I recall visiting New York City on Remembrance Day just two months after the tragedy. On other trips, our senses were assaulted by flashing neon lights and the ear-splitting noise of honking …( read more )

During the fall, huckleberries were ripe for the picking in the shelter of the tall redwood trees. Our family picked fruit and took full buckets to a larger container at a nearby log landing where my two-year-old brother played in his …( read more )

Living where I do in the north of British Columbia, Canada, makes gardening difficult. Our growing season is not only shorter, but also our soil often lacks the necessary nutrients for healthy plants. In addition, we live two hours …( read more )

When I was a child, I longed for a bicycle. I grew up in an English town long since swallowed up by London. Because of the traffic, my two younger brothers and I were restricted to the backyard. I wanted a bike so that I could visit my …( read more )

My parents' home in Scotland had its own front garden. My dad planted a hedgerow to divide it from our neighbours and placed a green picket fence all around it. To get to the front door of our house, visitors had to walk through the small …( read more )

My advancing years have prompted me to ask a lot. I ask fellow walkers to get me across the street safely by letting me know when the light turns to the "Walk" signal. In the grocery store, I ask helping hands to reach items or to look at …( read more )

Recently, I have been reminded once again of the wonderful healing power of Jesus. Thirty-three years ago, at the age of 42, I was shunned and excommunicated from my cherished childhood church because I had divorced and married again. The …( read more )

This was the first Bible verse that I ever learned as a child. One of my elementary school teachers, Miss McKenzie, led an after-school program called Scripture Union. Each Wednesday, we gathered in the gym hall to sing choruses, watch …( read more )

"If you know who you are, you will know what to do." – Dr. Hendrik Kraemer Are you struggling with unsolvable problems? Do you feel lost? If so, I suggest the approach that my four-year-old son took when he got lost in Storybook Gardens. …( read more )

I was on my way to an appointment. I had only left the house and been driving for a matter of minutes, when I realized that I had forgotten something. I hurried back home, opened the front door and walked in. Immediately, I could sense …( read more )

I never really thought too much about the first verse, and certainly not about the results that it could create. I have had situations that caused a lot of hurt and mixed feelings in the past. Then one day, it hit me: *Is there something …( read more )

I have mobility issues, and getting up and down the two front steps outside my townhouse is a challenge. Recently, I realized that every time when I planned to go out, I was getting anxious ahead of time about getting up that second …( 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 )

When I was growing up, there were two groups of kids in my neighbourhood: those older than me and those younger. There weren't any kids the same age as me. If I played sports or games with the younger kids, I was always the leader, and I …( read more )

At a picnic this past summer, I left my wide-brimmed, white cotton hat on a lawn chair to save my seat while going through the food line. When I returned with my loaded paper plate, someone was sitting on my hat! Shutting my mouth, I …( read more )

"It's not fair! She has more than me!" This child's howling cry of injustice is familiar to us. Of course, we know it applies only to ice cream and cake, never to peas and carrots. Such a complaint may indeed be uttered by a sweet, …( read more )

This was the scriptural theme for a new Bible study, the verse to memorize. Later in the same day, as I opened the mail, a pamphlet from an evangelistic association proclaimed the same verse. Coincidence? This is how God gets our …( read more )

Our five-year-old granddaughter was very small when she began to talk. She hasn't stopped since. The things that she says are often funny and endearing, but many of her questions are surprisingly sensible and thought-provoking. (I'm still …( read more )