Author: JJ Ollerenshaw

Canada contains one-third of the world's water supply in its more than 250,000 lakes. When I visit Niagara Falls in Ontario, I am profoundly impressed by the sheer abundance of water. However, like many rural dwellings, our house is on a … Read more

When Prince Harry was married this year, several Canadians unexpectedly received personal invitations to the royal wedding in England. Of course, they were thrilled to accept. Wouldn't you? It reminded me of a time in a small village … Read more

In my garden, there are several beds of perennials. Each bed has a different name in order to identify it when I am describing a location to my husband. Apart from the obvious, like the Iris Bed and the Hosta Garden, there are the … Read more

Most of my time in the work force was spent working evenings, nights, and weekends. It seemed to be a good idea, because my husband was with the children when I was not. But I often missed family celebrations and church. My faith … Read more

I listened with delight to my eighteen-month-old granddaughter's attempts to repeat the words with which her brothers and sisters were coaching her. As I saw the pride on her parents' faces, I remembered my own children's first words. I am … 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

Sometimes, it takes a period of enforced inactivity to make us look at things from a different perspective. This winter, I suffered a bad attack of the flu. I thought that I'd soon recover and that "tomorrow will be better". But as the … Read more

There are rules for living in the city, just as there are rules for living in the country. For instance, city dwellers keep their doors locked. When we moved from the city to a farm where our nearest neighbour was a ten-minute walk from … Read more

When I was a child, I loved the sound of mail being pushed through the letterbox and landing whisper-soft on the doormat. I had several pen pals all over the world. I did not know their language, but they all wrote fairly good English. I … Read more

This is a verse that I particularly like to share when I am mentoring prisoners by mail through Crossroads Prison Ministries. I mark the Bible lessons that they send me, and then, I write each of them an encouraging letter. It seems to me … Read more