Posted: April 10, 2022
It’s been years since I attended an “in home” Baby Shower, but I was honoured to be at one this past weekend. Covid sabotaged so many celebrations but once again we are able and privileged to come into each other’s homes and celebrate with joy and laughter. And there was an abundance of that. That’s what the anticipation of new life evokes. Joy, dreams, hopes and plans. We didn’t talk about messy diapers and all night feedings, but focused on the smell, softness and cuddliness of a tiny miracle creation. I also got to hold a four-week old baby, and what is it about the sweetness of the smell? The sweetness of holding a baby! Sunday morning as I drove into church I noticed the magnolias trees were in full bloom. Oh my heart, the beauty of the pink/fuchsia being a sign of the emergence of a new season. It…
Posted in: adversity, Anticipation, ask God, beauty and pain coexist, Christ in us, disappointments, each day has enough troubles of its own, happy heart, laughter, new birth, Overcoming Struggles, suffering, waiting
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Posted: January 10, 2021
After 11 months of having our lives bulldozed with pandemic restrictions, watching the hatred and anger in the world, it seems like there is little room for cheer. Along with the dreariness of the dark and bleak January months, cheer feels like something we used to have. Back in the day. After spending extended time in the Bible in the book of Proverbs I realize once again how important it is to have a cheerful heart: “A happy heart makes a face cheerful” (Proverbs 15:13). “ But the cheerful heart has a continued feast” (Proverbs 15:15). “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart” (Proverbs 15:30). “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). I want that cheer! There are two words in each of those Proverbs that jump at me and give me hope. “Cheerful” and “heart.” Then in Proverbs 4:23 it says: “Above all else (Italics mine) guard…
Posted in: all alone, beauty and pain coexist, cheerful heart, Covid-19, decisions, feeling good, fresh joy, happy heart, joy, Laughter, Making Wise Choices, pray, recapture your joy, sleep, thankful
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Posted: August 10, 2020
Last year I told myself, “I’m not doing this again…ever!” But there I was again with clippers in hand, on the hottest day of the day, ready to prune all the dead branches from my five-foot tall, decorative rose bushes. For two hours, with sweat running down my face and back, those thorny branches attacked me. Long sleeved shirts and pants don’t protect me from those nasty, long thorns, which manage to grab and rip my skin until the blood spurts out. Then when my wheelbarrow is full, I have to push it up the rocky incline on the left side of my house toward my green container. With the sun beating on me I sit down and collapse. I’ve been doing this for 24 years. Same story every year. This year my daughter Michelle and I were sitting on the lower patio encircled by the rose bushes and she…
Posted in: beauty and joy, beauty and pain coexist, celebrate instead of compare, decisions, disgard ugliness, do the hard work, fresh joy, happiness, new growth, Overcoming Struggles, pruning
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