I'm not sure how I came so often to sit beside my grandmother when we had family gatherings. But I remember that sometimes, she'd just quietly beckon me toward herself. Now Grandma always had handwork in her fingers as she sat in her … Read more
"I can't go to visit people when someone close to them has died." Sometimes, the person who utters words like these might fear crying when visiting sorrowing people. Yet, we can remember that God is with us to teach us how to weep with … Read more
Ever since I was a youngster on the platform in our one-room, country school, along with about twelve children of varied ages and grades, I have enjoyed Christmas pageants. At the age of ten or eleven, I was the chosen angel Gabriel, and … Read more
My great-niece, who has taken on a leadership position with a Christian youth organization, has recently married. What would be an appropriate wedding present? I thought of giving a few books to add to the young couple's now-combined … Read more
I'm glad that I grew up in a church where The Lord's Prayer in unison was repeated meaningfully. We did not rush: Even we children could keep up, conscious of the meanings as we prayed with everyone. Now, I like to repeat The Lord's … Read more
At the supermarket, I wheeled my three articles, precariously balanced on the front bar of my two-front-wheel, two-back-skids walker, into the last check-out aisle signed "Limit 12 Articles". The lady in front of me had just put a few … Read more
Far out in the Pacific Ocean, away to the north of Papua New Guinea's mainland, just before 9:30 a.m. on the beautiful morning of February 26, 2014, six persons, John and Marjo Brownie (Wycliffe Bible Translators), one of their … Read more
In Bird's Hill Park north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, I rested one mid-summer evening on scruffy grass by the side of irregular rows of tall trees. Suddenly, I saw by my feet an ugly, blackish-brown, seemingly almost dead bug half the … Read more
On the wall above my computer is a large, framed picture that I embroidered. Its title is "White Pine", but I call it "The Widow". Centred in the near end of a narrow lane, a great, elderly, grayish-green pine tree stands alone, brittle … Read more
Two years ago my left hip broke, and it has not healed well. I have to use a walker. Many people have helped me wheel groceries to my car and put them in the trunk. Teenaged boys at church have lifted my walker into the back seat of my … Read more