Our family has just gone through an extended period of gift-giving. Over the past three weeks, we have celebrated four birthdays and Christmas. All that baking and wrapping has worn my fingers out. We feasted and gave lots of splendid gifts to each other with smiles, exclamations and lit-up faces. What is the greatest gift … Continue reading Greatest Gift
joy
Fresh Starts, New Starts
January. It is the renowned month of fresh starts, new resolutions, hopes and dreams. My January started with the making of one birthday cake and two more looming on the horizon, our television seizing up and watching our firstborn drive off to his home, eight hours away. While these things are not terrible, they are … Continue reading Fresh Starts, New Starts
White Water
You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.Deuteronomy 13:4 NASB A wall of water rose before my frozen eyes, and my breath caught momentarily in my throat. The bottom of the river loomed below my feet, filling … Continue reading White Water
King of the Jews
The sign over His head said it in three different languages. A mere twenty-four hours before, the people had proclaimed and wanted it. The leaders had feared it and plotted to stop it. What had happened? How did things change so quickly? Life can change in the blink of an eye. What looked like a … Continue reading King of the Jews
Well Sitting
Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. John 4:6 NKJV This picture of Jesus’s humanity where scripture says He became weary, and when He did, He rested, encourages me. This was a divinely appointed rest. Christ had pushed Himself … Continue reading Well Sitting
That Christmas Feeling
The decorations are all down and lovingly tucked away in their respective boxes. Walking into my restored living room, the ghost of my beautiful, twinkling, ornamented tree lingers in the corner of my eye and I sigh longingly. Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. Brightly coloured decorations and lights bring pleasure to … Continue reading That Christmas Feeling
Cabbage Patch Kid
Do you remember back in the mid-1980s when the Cabbage Patch doll came out? They became a huge success and I remember people lining up at Christmas frantic to 'adopt' one for their child. It became madness with people fighting each other for the last one on the shelf, stealing them from other people's carts … Continue reading Cabbage Patch Kid
One Kind Word
It was Christmas Eve, and I was excited our little family was going together to the evening service at church for the first time. After running around, making sure my three young, rambunctious boys were dressed in clean dress shirts and pants, I had taken time to preen myself, putting on makeup, jewelry, and my … Continue reading One Kind Word
Never Give Up, Never Surrender
In the well-known movie Galaxy Quest by Paramount Pictures, we frequently hear the spaceship Captain's motto, "never give up, never surrender!". And this is what I want to encourage you to do today. But first I want to tell you a story. The woman sat on a low wall of grey, cold, cement cinder blocks. Snow … Continue reading Never Give Up, Never Surrender
Passion
The passion of Christ Beyond all compare Love so complete Sweat became blood. Willing to die To stand in my stead Be spat on and struck take my disgrace. My shame for glory Thorns digging in Nailed to a tree And counted as dead. This passion so great It did not end there. Love so … Continue reading Passion