Simply Thriving

 Yesterday was grocery day. And you know what that means…time to clean all the weird odds and ends out of the fridge. As a family, we have little waste when it comes to eating up our produce, but somehow there is still that two-week-old cream puff that no one claimed; the bruised apple that the kids turned their nose up at and the half empty jar of salsa with a questionable smell. I even had to empty two bags of milk into the sink that were chunky and foul. Cue gagging. Regardless of our best efforts, we all have some waste in our lives. It might be the contents of our fridges, or more concerning - the use of our time. I often get to the end of the day and look back at the heart work opportunities I missed because of impatience or frustration. And the ever present counter full of dishes reminds me of how I could have been more fruitful with my time. I read something a couple of years ago that blew my mind. I was going through the Bible study “Lord I Want to Know You” with a fri...

  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”   This is how I began 2020 - in the valley of the shadow of my sister’s death, still reeling from the fresh wound of grief. Little did I know that the entire world would soon be thrown into that shadow as well. For most of us, this has been a year of some level of loss; of heaviness; of isolation; of feeling stretched like butter over too much bread, as Bilbo Baggins would say. There is less sun in the valley - less perspective - while mountains of grief, fear and doubt loom high. This year, more than ever, these words of the Psalmist resonate with me.   “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are on my side.”   I wonder how many of us have put our faith in the coming of a new year, hoping that kissing 2020 goodbye will mean a way out of this valley. As December drew to a close, I’ve been pondering what would happen to my faith if this is our new reality....

It’s been a week for epiphanies. Somewhere between the endless squabbling, crafting, baking, squabbling, yard work, schoolwork, snack times and squabbling God opened my eyes to some truths I already knew in my head but needed to know in my heart. The first epiphany grew out of a zoom Bible study that I am doing with my sister’s in law. The topic is Biblical contentment. If you are a believer, I’m sure you’ve heard this verse many, many times: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 Many times, I have taken comfort from this verse; but I understood it in a different way this week. Reading on: For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 What is God’s ultimate good for the believer? There are a myriad of good things, but the ultimate good is that we be ...

She climbed into the van, disappointed. “By the time my class arrived at the bake sale there was basically nothing left.” she said. “There was one muffin and two jello cups. MacKensie got the last muffin and you know I don’t like jello.” She’d been excited for the bake sale for days, so I understood why she was so sad about it. To cheer her up I suggested that we go to Tim Horton’s where she could buy a muffin instead. (This is a treat for us…big families and all that jazz. Buying goodies doesn’t happen often.) As we were chatting on our drive to Timmie’s she mentioned that she was happy that she still got to donate to the bake sale’s cause though. She wasn’t sure how much the muffin would have cost and she wanted to make a donation so she gave six dollars. Now six dollars may not be that much to you or me, but to my little girl it’s a small fortune. Again, with the big family element and without gifts of money on special occasions, she earns five dollars every two mon...

What a crazy time we live in. When Christians are fighting Christians on the morality of killing babies.   When we need to take to the streets to speak for the unborn. When, in our country, three hundred babies are killed each day. When speaking of their deaths is cause for hate and ridicule. When defending them is looked upon as heinous and anti-woman. How did we get here? Please, Lord, let us move on from this ludicrous place. Let me tell you a story: Once upon a time, my mother (my biological mother) found herself pregnant with me. She was in grade 11. Her own mother was dead. It had to have been a truly horrible, frightening time for her. Seeing no other choice, and most likely out of fear, she went to the doctor for an abortion. I am so thankful that he, a Christian who was not afraid to call abortion what it was, told her that there was a baby inside of her – not a fetus, not a lump – a baby. He said that there were many, many people who wanted to h...

All you need is love, All you need is love, All you need is love, love Love is all you need It’s almost Christmas – the time of Ultimate Love come down – and here I am with the Beatles stuck in my head. It’s because of something that I read recently in Colossians. I’ve been “stuck” in Colossians this past couple of weeks. While I’m also reading other passages, I just keep coming back, re-reading and pondering it. This is the passage that’s on my mind today (and inspiring the melody that is on repeat in my head): Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14 And……CONVICTION overload. Thinking about it, I’ve been on the receiving end ...