Category: Devotional

Several weeks ago our pastor asked me to play a very special role. I was to be Saint Nicholas and to be introduced to the children during the children's time in the morning service. It is sad that most people … Read more

Last winter was one of the warmest on record here in southern Ontario, Canada. Usually we are shovelling snow by mid-November. That particular year, however, our first snowfall of the season didn't occur until the middle of December. My children, … Read more

Where or when does Jesus come in our holiday festivities? We invest a lot of creative energy in getting the right presents for the individuals we buy or make gifts for, and that is good. If we stop to think … Read more

Well, it's charge card season again! I shudder when I remember some of my previous Christmas bills. Perhaps I was trying to buy affection. For whatever reason, I gave too many presents, too often. January is too late to count … Read more

Christmas is a time of anticipation, and a time of travel, like that very first night, awaiting the birth of the Christ Child. Parents and grandparents anxiously await the time they will be reunited with their children and grandchildren, sharing … Read more

"Will Christmas come this year?" I remember asking my mother this question the year I turned nine. My father had had an accident earlier that year, and, for eight months, the family's only income was what God had provided through … Read more

This weekend I went to the mall. People were bustling about, seasonal music was playing in the background, and lights and trees were everywhere. Some folks were searching for a gift to express their love, while others were collecting for … Read more

What is Advent? I researched the word and found that the dictionary defines the word as the arrival or coming of something or someone special, and, specifically, "a penitential season beginning four Sundays before Christmas." I also found that the … Read more

There is something very satisfying in seeing row upon row of canned goods added to my shelves, jars of fruit and vegetables that are the colour of gems: ruby salsa and spaghetti sauce, golden peaches, pale pears, emerald pickles, and … Read more

This summer saw the fruition of two reunions, both of which I had worked on via e-mail over a period of more than a year, with friends I'd not seen for 10 or 15 years. During the planning, we didn't … Read more