Recently, my husband and a friend were outside cutting down trees on our property. The area where we live is surrounded by many maple trees and silver birches. Unfortunately, many of the birch trees are dead and need to be taken down. They …( read more )

"What colour is he?" I asked myself. Unable to sleep that stifling night, I got thinking about someone in our mission. Day after day, I saw him working diligently with the maintenance crew. Yet, that night, I could not envision his skin …( read more )

It is a beautiful, but brisk, evening here on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario, as I am writing. In contemplation, I am sitting in our parlour in front of our wood-burning fireplace. In the fireplace, a maple log is burning … (read more)

I'm six years old. I'm very frightened, sobbing, and heartbreakingly miserable. I'm in a strange school in a strange country, and strange people are now driving me away. Where is my mommy? The car stops outside a large, red brick … (read more)

Years ago, we had a budgie bird in our home. It was so tame. When out of its cage, it would follow us and sit on our shoulders. It would even land on the arm of our glasses and view … (read more)

When my hands are busy with one mindless task or another, I like to keep my wandering mind occupied too. To prevent it from going places it should not go, I "read" while I work, by playing Christian music or … (read more)

There are more passages with promises of God's love and eternal life for us than this page could possibly print. When you think about it, our lives are filled with promises. We promise to be good, or not to do … (read more)

In yesterday's devotional, I described my four-year-old daughter's version of the Lord's Prayer in church one Sunday: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be my name. My kingdom come…". My first thought was to correct her, but as the … (read more)

Several years ago I was on a train, returning home from a tax seminar. The train was crowded and I was sharing the row with a complete stranger, an older black gentleman. As well-trained and polite travellers should, we acknowledged … (read more)

The terrible scourge of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain, has now fallen and the old foe is the new friend and all things are possible. Can that hope extend to the plight of the haves and have-nots, the warring … (read more)

If Paul's letters are regarded as E-mail, then his message is evangelical, ethical, ecclesiastical – and also ecumenical. This is another word that makes some people suspicious. Yet originally it was one of Paul's greatest contributions to see the Church … (read more)