One of my dad's favourite Christmas carols was "O come, O come, Emmanuel". O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O … Read more

Recently, I substituted at the last school in which I taught before I retired. It was Wednesday, and the staff was going to a two-day teachers' convention the next day. I considered what to wear. The students and staff of this school had … Read more

In The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Corrie recounts how she, her father, and her sister Betsie were taken to prison for doing good. Their crime? Helping persecuted Jews during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War … Read more

The Gleaners plant near Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, is the home of a highly efficient non-profit operation. Surplus and unsaleable produce and shipments of lentils, peas, or barley are combined in dehydrated form to produce a … Read more

As our family grew many years ago, we contemplated adding onto our house. This meant borrowing money, but my father denied the loan that we requested of him. We went ahead anyway. After all, my husband's teaching job had security, we … Read more

A dear friend left us last month for her heavenly home. We had been friends for 47 years. I'm so grateful that my husband and I had visited with her in July for what proved to be the last time until we meet again. Joan was to have knee … Read more

For centuries, a special flag called the Royal Standard has represented the king or queen of the United Kingdom. It is flown on one of the royal residences, or on a car, ship, or aircraft when the sovereign is present. When Charles III … Read more

My husband and I certainly didn't think that it was an opportunity for great joy when our car wouldn't start. For once, we were in the car at exactly 6:00 a.m., ready to head home from a recent holiday, a day's drive from New Denver, … Read more

My brother and I don't usually exchange birthday presents, so I was surprised to receive a padded envelope in the mail shortly before my recent birthday. This is more than a card, I thought, fingering a flat, rectangular object in the … Read more

Several years ago, my husband and I attended the BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA. While we enjoyed watching great tennis players perform, it was the supporting players, the ball boys and ball girls, who … Read more

When I was twelve years old, I won a prize at the end of the school year for academic achievement; it was a novel about horses. I didn't think that it was the greatest story, but I was proud of the handwritten inscription in the flyleaf … Read more

In 1991, when my husband, Terry, our three boys, and I went to Slovakia on a short-term educational mission, we were foreigners in the land. Needing groceries, we explored the little hole-in-the-wall shops in our new neighbourhood. There … Read more

"Would you be available to sub today?" It was a text message early one morning recently from the principal of the school where I used to teach. I arrived at the school to find that my assignment included three different grade levels — … Read more

When I taught French many years ago, one of the boys in my class failed a test. The next day, his mother came to me and made a startling request: "Mrs. B, would you let Ethan take his test again?" I had never had anyone ask me that before, … Read more

In September of my high school graduation year, ceremonies were over, and I was heading off to the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. My dad had always wanted me to pursue a higher education, and I looked forward to a new … Read more

When I was very young, I would feel threatened when meeting new people or being in a new situation, so I would resort to an escape technique. Elbow up, I would put my whole arm in front of my face. Under the cover of my arm, I could hide; … Read more

Joe slumped to the floor, the life choked out of him, a victim of a terrible game young people play called the Choking Game or Blackout Challenge. The act of intentionally cutting off the source of oxygen to the brain to induce a temporary … Read more

When the snow finally melts, the water from the tap in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, starts to taste terrible. It's brown and turbid from mud and silt stirred up by the now faster-flowing Red Deer River that intersects our city. Dead and … Read more

One day in November, 2007, our team of staff and teenaged students arrived early at a tiny, ramshackle building in downtown St. John's on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Our mission on this trip was to present the gospel to the elementary … Read more

Thirteen years ago, in the early spring, my husband and I surveyed with satisfaction our recent purchase, a 22-foot travel trailer. After we retired from teaching, we planned to use it to go south, where the winters would be warmer, and to … Read more

As we were walking along one day, my middle-school-aged grandson picked something up off the ground. "What did you find?" I asked him. "A pull tab. Our school is collecting them," he answered. "They make wheelchairs out of them." I … Read more

Many years ago, a young girl in my grade one class stood out from the other students in a few ways. To begin with, her speech was hard to understand, and her actions belied her actual age. She often had tantrums, and would sometimes run … Read more

One snowy winter morning several years ago, I waved goodbye to my husband. A team of volunteers left in a small bus to build a house for a needy family in Mexico, and he was the main driver. Shivering in the -25°C (-13°F) morning, I … Read more

For the new year, people typically make resolutions focusing on changes and plans that they want to implement in their lives. I'd like to adopt the expression carpe diem, Latin for "seize the day" or "make the most of the present time". … Read more

All the costumes and props for the Sunday School Christmas play had been tidied up and put away. All except one, I thought. A wrapped gift lay in my drawer. I was in charge of the Sunday School, so I kept stuff in the old desk. *I wonder … Read more

I was discouraged about the mission trip to Antigua that I volunteered for in 2007. The small parts that I had been assigned in the presentation to the elementary school students did not go well. They were not engaged in the introductory … Read more

One beautiful fall day, as I peered over the railing of a small bridge, an interesting sight met my eyes — bright red fish with green heads: spawning salmon. By an inborn instinct, they were all heading the same way — upstream. If you … Read more

A few years ago, when my husband first took our young grandsons to the tennis court to begin teaching them how to play tennis, their balls flew all over the place. The boys didn't know how to direct their swing so that the balls would … Read more

"Come with us! This is a fantastic deal!" Several years ago, our friends were trying to persuade my husband and me to join them on a week-long cruise up the west coast of Canada to Alaska, USA. In the middle of May, the cruise line was … Read more

My husband and I had been volunteering for several years with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners, near Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. The Gleaners transform surplus vegetables into nourishing soup mix for needy people around the world. … Read more

When I was three years old, I experienced what it was to be lost. Although the details are compiled from old letters, the feelings of panic and not knowing how to get back to my parents are deeply embedded in my memory. In the early … Read more

One rainy night in our university days, my then-fiancé and his friend were accompanying me home from the library, where the three of us had been studying. I was walking quickly on the sidewalk with my umbrella, and the two of them were on … Read more

The first family road trip that I remember taking happened when I was eleven years old. From our home on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, we travelled all the way to the Okanagan. Now an easy trip of eight or nine hours, it took … Read more