Category: Devotional

"I'd never go in there," my friend said as we passed the charity shop. "My mother taught me never to wear something that was on someone else's back." Until that moment, I hadn't thought much about second-hand clothes for a … Read more

Our mailboxes overflow at this time of year with pleas to "Give generously". Our telephones and doorbells ring, and we are asked to donate to yet another good cause. Food banks need filling, and toys need collecting for kids who … Read more

December 1992 — my father died — a charter member of St. Luke's Presbyterian Church in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, an elder, a Sunday School superintendent, and a great dad. In the last couple years of his life, his disease (akin … Read more

I remember waking up one Sunday morning in December, and everything was quiet and still. No cars were heard outside, no buses were running, no people were making a noise. The sun was shining, but when I looked out of … Read more

Living a nomadic, military lifestyle during our married life, many of our gifts arrived in the mail from our parents. Our children eagerly looked forward to these parcels, as did we, their parents. These gifts, which always contained homemade goodies, … Read more

Our church was presenting a musical evening entitled Cadenza. At first, some of us confused it with a credenza, an armoire type of furniture! When we learned that cadenza is a musical term for a little something special, we knew … Read more

"Suppose that Christ had not been born." I rattled off the words of the Christmas poem as fast as any nine-year-old child could say them. I expect I believed that if I said them quickly enough, I wouldn't forget them … Read more

Christmas is a time for remembering. I can remember being an angel in a church play when I was three years old. My tiny part consisted of kneeling before the manger, and later moving a little to the side with … Read more

Today's text was a motto that hung in our home when I was a child, and although it has the obvious meaning, "Watch what comes out of your mouth," it took on a different meaning for me one year. It … Read more

Expectations can sometimes blind us to the reality which is right in front of us. When I was in the ninth grade, my geography teacher called the roll at the beginning of our very first class. He asked us to … Read more