13 Hours of Rain

"When I think back to when I was a little girl, you know what image comes to my mind?" I ask my husband-to-be. His blue eyes engage with mine as he listens intently. I continue with tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm standing there, in a pretty white dress with ruffles and lace. I have my shiny church shoes on. And I'm at the edge of a big puddle. The puddle is filled with mystery as it reflects the glow of the sun. I really want to jump in and splash around. But I can't. My dress will get dirty. So I walk away." He grasps my hand and speaks with sincerity, "Well, I guess we will have to go back and jump in together." Almost six years later from that moment, I realize how my thinking has been liberated from several cultural constraints, societal expectations, and theological assumptions. But first, let me set the record straight. I have been blessed with phenomenal parents, beautiful ethnic roots, and a rich experience in the Christian Faith...

There are moments, like today, when I wonder, "Is this it? Is this how my life is supposed to enfold?" I sit at my lap top, sipping a steamed milk. The "clickity-clack" of the keys meld with the hum of my refrigerator full of food. My two precious children blissfully sleep in our beautiful home while their father, my dear husband, contentedly takes in a hockey game downstairs. Outside, our little city is quiet, serene, almost invisible except for the shadows of homes and the orange glow of streetlights. Life is predictable. Normal. And ever so domestic. I remember having a discussion with my sister a few years back. My husband and I were at the cusp of change. Employment seemed elusive in our previous urban center. A move was imminent. "You know, I would rather move overseas than to a dinky town in the middle of the prairies!" I exclaimed. My sister laughed at my words. And now I find myself here. Here! Stay-at-home-mother-of-two, single-income-singl...

In honor of Remembrance Day, I share King George VI's quote from the movie The King's Speech (2010): In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you, as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself. For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war. Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies. But it has been in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that might is right. For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge. It is to...

Love these quotes that prod me to think outside the box! My own experience is that for human beings certainty does not exist, has never existed, will not— in our finite states— ever exist, and, moreover, should not. It is not a gift God has chosen to give His creatures, doubtlessly wisely. ~ Daniel Taylor, The Myth of Certainty We must know where to doubt, where to feel certain, where to submit. He who does not do so, understands not the force of reason. ~ Blaise Pascal The hightest of all is not to understand the highest but to act upon it. ~ Søren Kierkegaard The noncommitted have no right to ask any questions. ~ Helmut Thielicke Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? ~ King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 7:16

Encouraging thoughts from one of my favorite classic authors, J.R.R. Tolkien: Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish. Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends. The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mig...

My meditation as of late... Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Apostle Paul to the Church at Philippi, Philippians 2:1-8, NIV

Quotes to inspire me, today, and into this challenging week... "Lord, I will follow Thee; but . . ." Luke 9:61 Supposing God tells you to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense, what are you going to do? Hang back? If you get into the habit of doing a thing in the physical domain, you will do it every time until you break the habit determinedly; and the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will get up to what Jesus Christ wants, and every time you will turn back when it comes to the point, until you abandon resolutely. "Yes, but - supposing I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?" "Yes, I will obey God if He will let me use my common sense, but don't ask me to take a step in the dark." Jesus Christ demands of the man who trusts Him the same reckless sporting spirit that the natural man exhibits. If a man is going to do anything worth while, there are times when he has to risk everything on his leap, and in the...