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
Author Archive
A Mental Shift
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
Our Hiding Place
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
One Beet At A Time
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
Our Lives Are Fleeting
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
Is Your Flag Flying High?
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
Just A Blip
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
Appreciating The Little Fish Knife
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
The Green-Eyed Monster
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
Don't Get Too Cozy
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
We Are Not Alone
"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
A More Excellent Way
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
Seeing The Big Picture
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
Spring Runoff
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
Finding Treasure
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
What Is That In Your Hand?
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
The Truth About Pull Tabs
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
Let's Be Encouragers
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
Faithfulness
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
Carpe Diem
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
The Gift In The Drawer
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
Just A Jingle Bell
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
Swimming Upstream
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
Practice Makes Perfect
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
Stuffed With The Things Of This World
"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
Be Flexible
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
Appearances Can Be Deceiving
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
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