13 Hours of Rain

For many North Americans, Jesus is far too familiar. His name evolved into a curse word. His claim to be fully divine (along with fully human) became reduced by popular society to an image of a "good man" teaching "good things". The seriousness of our sin -- or outright rebellion! -- was minimized. And God's love was elevated and esteemed more highly than God's justice. In doing so, we have rejected chapters upon chapters of the Bible, labeling them as irrelevant to a culture bent on a theology of Universalism. You're okay. I'm okay. We are all okay. It will all work out in the end, whether you believe in Jesus or not. He will let you into His Eternal Glory even though you decided that you wanted nothing do with Jesus on Earth. Sure. Come on in. Take the best seat in the house. I know what I write above is laced with sarcasm, and may even sound judgmental. However, I am currently wrestling with some truths I have recently gleaned through our small ...

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. Pslam 62:1-2 (NLT) The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV) I sit here, contemplating what I should write to commemorate 2016 and mark the advent of 2017. My mind is blank. So I will do what I often do in such a moment. Just write. This year has been like no other since we moved to prairie southwest. My children transitioned to be in school everyday and I began to fill my "spare time" with other pursuits. The biggest challenge was leading a Family Support Team for a Syrian refugee family. If you have kept up with my sparse entries this year, then you would have noticed that Refugee Sponsorship  has been my prime focus. Interspersed  among my refugee-themed entries where glimpses into my Dad's he...

A year ago, I signed on to assist a refugee family. A year later, our refugee family is here, integrating into Canadian society. As I reflect on the journey thus far, I would like to comment on my community. I am pleasantly surprised and proud of how our community has come together to welcome our family. Honestly, I doubted this a year ago, since our city has a "red-neck" reputation. And most individuals in our constituency do not appreciate our Liberal Prime Minister, the one who strongly advocated for refugees. Yet, our community has rallied behind this family with their generosity and love. People of various Christian denominations, in addition to people of different religious (and non-religious) backgrounds, have come together to serve. It is truly beautiful and inspirational. On a personal note, this experience has been incredibly exhausting and rewarding. Most of our committee members feel the same way. We all wonder if we could ever do this again because of how all...

“If you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.”  ―  C.S. Lewis ,  The Horse and His Boy Our refugee family as arrived. And they are immensely grateful. I do not know about the atrocities they witnessed or the terror they fled. All I know is the visible signs of thankfulness on their faces as they have left their old home to come to their new home. We are reading "The Horse and His Boy" as a family. It is the story of Shasta, a young boy who is running away from his cruel life in the country of Calormen to the hope in beautiful Narnia. Our family calls this land "Beautiful Canada". :) There are days I get frustrated over my day-to-day life. There are so many things I wish to accomplish. Like learning how to write Hindi, which I never seem to find time for. Or being that amazingly creative Mom with you kids, who has planned all these fantastic summer activities. Or writing Chapter Two of my so-not-pub...

We haven't received an arrival date for our refugee family. But we've been asked to get our house ready by March 1, 2016*. Oh boy. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you feel you are clearly over your head in your ability to lead and equip others to lead? There are days I do feel like an imposter and wonder why in the world the Ministerial affirmed me to be the Volunteer Coordinator for supporting our refugee family. Are you sure? Me? Okay then... Yet, have you ever had a "such a time as this" moment? Dear kids, you are familiar with the story of Queen Esther. She was beautiful. She was made Queen for a foreign King. She found out that one of the King's viziers, that is Haman, had hatched a plot to kill the Jews. Esther was a Jew. Esther had to make a choice. Speak up and face the possibility of death by approaching the King without his permission or watch her family be killed (and probably be killed herself anyway). Mordecai, Esther's...

I sat around a table surrounded by various church leaders in our city. There was mostly men present, a few women, and only one visible minority (that is, me). The pastor hosting the meeting welcomed us and showed us a video clip of a Lebanese pastor who, in spite of a small congregation, obeyed the call to assist 1,500 Syria refugee families. The command "Love your enemies" took on a real meaning as the congregation welcomed destitute person after destitute person. God equipped and provided in miraculous ways. The video clip was paused, and our host looked at us with conviction, "If they can welcome 1,500 families, we certainly can welcome a few." All of us nodded in agreement. I am pleased to confess that I was delightfully wrong. In Daunting {But Not Impossible} , I wondered if anyone in this corner of the prairies would ever be compelled to welcome refugee families to this city. I felt overwhelmed with the need across the ocean and wondered what in the world ...

I rarely watch the news. I catch up on the world's happenings -- where often the horror is reported -- via Google News. Or the brief blurb before classic rock on our favourite radio station. But very occasionally, at the end of the day, I take in the images of national and global headlines. Yesterday I watched the masses trek across Europe, searching for a safe haven away from war-torn Syria. I witnessed little kids crying as they tried to rub away tear gas sprayed by unrelenting border police. The message? You are not welcome in this country. I choked up as a father and his son fell to the ground after being tripped up by guards. The look of desperation on people's faces was heart breaking. Our country is nearing a Federal Election in October. Many voters are curious how the next Prime Minister will address the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Here is an excerpt from The Globe and Mail : Mr. Mulcair [NDP] and Mr. Trudeau [Liberal] condemn Mr. Harper [Conservative] for lacking...