After numerous doctor visits which brought no answers, my wife and I were frustrated. The unknown started after a recent move. My wife lifted an item and felt a stabbing pain. Thinking that she had pulled the mesh from a recent hernia …( read more )

Our trip was going well until everything went sideways. The road in front of us was straight and the traffic light. All of a sudden, our small travel trailer began fishtailing back and forth, my husband fighting valiantly to control the …( read more )

I walk for stress relief and exercise. I also daily thank God for my numerous blessings. I believe that God has called me to minister to those who are grieving, ill, and struggling. However, the other day, I was having a pity party. I …( read more )

Recently, I came across the story of Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran minister, who came to the German city of Eilenburg in 1637 near the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. Because the city was walled, it became overcrowded with refugees from …( read more )

The weather in Mexico during the winter months is beautiful. However, storms can come in quickly from the sea. I witnessed one such tropical tempest one evening — the howling wind of the Pacific whipping the palm trees and shredding …( read more )

Three-year-old Ade wanted pickles with her lunch. I found a new jar in the pantry and tried to open it, without success. I whacked the lid several times. No success. I gave it a few more good smacks with the handle of the knife. Still no …( read more )

I could hear the giggles of my friends, my confidantes, my extended family from across the parking lot as I approached our favourite outdoor café. They were discussing a newly published article about how spending time with good friends …( read more )

Each time I turn on the radio or connect to the Internet, I am inundated with news about COVID-19 and new developments. It seems that my social media feeds are peppered with conspiracy theories which verge on the scary, but which are …( read more )

For some people, anxiety is a chronic illness which paralyzes them emotionally and exhausts them physically. They struggle with everyday tasks and try their utmost to combat feelings of unworthiness and insecurity which riddle their …( read more )

Praise God for the gift of music! Singing songs of praise can lift our spirits and fill us with His joy. I love to sing and give glory to God through praise songs and hymns. I play my favourite CDs when we are in the car. Lately, I have …( read more )

If ever there were a time when we need to approach the throne of grace, it's now! The whole world has been turned upside down. We need God. We need His peace. We need His strength. There is no one else to turn to. Prayer is a gift from …( read more )

I dwell in a tiny home, just under 400 square feet, along with eight dogs. Each one of them has its own share of flaws or shortcomings, which I encounter each and every day. Some days, they can wear on my nerves, especially if it's one of …( read more )

You've likely heard the phrase, "It's against my religion", used as an excuse to avoid unpleasant tasks. You'll also know that religions tend to have forbidden practices. That's true across the branches of Christianity. Can you think of …( read more )

I live half a block from a funeral home. Hearses come by all the time, familiar drivers waving happily at me from the front seats, just doing their everyday assignments. It isn't their mother being buried today. I always wave back, …( 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 )

Recently in my Bible reading, I have particularly noticed several verses that could well serve us as new year's resolutions: As I was going through my filing cabinet removing old files in readiness for the coming year, I came across …( read more )

In the middle of December last year, I went to our daughter's hairdressing salon to get my hair cut and my beard trimmed. It was the middle of the afternoon, and there was no one in the shop. She told me that business was really slow. She …( read more )

One Saturday afternoon, my car suddenly shut down; all the yellow warning lights flashed at me. Conditioned by a similar problem last year with another car, I focused on the battery lights, as I knew that I had just put gas in the …( read more )

A major USA bank has recently been running television advertisements with the theme, "I Can." It has caused me to think about how frequently we are tempted to add the three letters "n-o-t" after the word "can". In fact, it is so common …( read more )

To me, Jesus is the loveliest being. When I was very young, I thought that He lived in the sky, so even when I lay on my back on the grass, watching the clouds go by, I thought about how much He loved me. In any circumstance, He can bring …( read more )

My friend Chris's house is somewhat of an oddity in Arizona — he has a lawn in his backyard. Most of us have rock, gravel, fake grass, or some other yard covering, as it's easier to take care of in the blazing hot summers. But Chris likes …( read more )

Recently, in a devotional published here on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional, Martin Wiles wrote how easily he and his wife can be sidetracked from their intended purchase by the clever displays in the store. He then applied it to our …( read more )

What we see and what we hear has a powerful influence on our thoughts and actions, and has had from the beginning of time. For instance, remember Eve? She was the first woman, the first wife, and the first mother, but unfortunately, she …( read more )

Discontent can be a destructive energy that harms us physically, emotionally, and relationally. It may be a symptom of ingratitude or an inability to accept one's lot in life — never having "learned to be content whatever the …( read more )

I love to read, so I haunt thrift shops and yard sales for interesting titles. Recently, I found an old one, Prayer, Conversing with God, by Rosalind Rinker (Zondervan, 1963). As often happens when I begin to study a topic, I see similar …( read more )

God is always faithful in both the largest and the smallest things of my life. During my second pregnancy, my fingers swelled so much that I needed to remove my wedding rings before they cut into my finger. At the time, I placed them …( read more )

For years, it has been a pattern. Evening comes, it's time to get ready for bed, and into my mind come memories and thoughts from the day or the past. Every one is tainted by hurt, and at its heart, by self-pity or my desire for …( read more )

What do you want? What a good question! In a course I once took, it was one of the most important questions: Why are you here? What do you hope to gain? What do you want? Many of the exercises that we learned were to help us to attain …( read more )

"It is her quietness that speaks so loudly." At least that is what I believe the Holy Spirit was saying to me as I studied very closely the picture of the Mona Lisa that I found in the encyclopedia. As I gazed at it, I noticed that the …( read more )

Being still is not easy; in fact, it is more difficult now than ever before. We have become technology gluttons, bombarded with a cacophony of smart phones, computers, tablets, iPads, radio, and television. From sun-up to sun-down, the …( read more )

For about ten years, in both eyes, I have had glaucoma, a disease which increases pressure in the eye, and which, if left untreated, can cause total blindness. Mine was kept under control with eye drops at bedtime every day. However, a …( read more )

Monday morning is my time to check my weight. Today, I was dreading it. I'd had a bad week. It wasn't good news. I've struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. It's in the family. My dad had a weight problem, as did his mother. …( read more )

Stop the roller coaster! I want to get off. Since I don't like heights, I've never liked roller coasters. However, one summer at Canada's Wonderland, when our daughter was about six years old, I decided to go on one of the tamer roller …( read more )