Recently, my husband tried to purchase a couple of groceries using cash as he had left his wallet containing his bank card at home. Unfortunately, the store owner would not accept one of his notes because it had an ink stain on it, which apparently...
While I enjoy experimenting with different seasonings and flavors, I’ll admit that my taste probably leans toward the more conventional end of the palate spectrum (if you know you know). Growing up in a Finnish household, our meals were typically seasoned with salt, pepper, and...
A poem about the grace of communion: Come, sit at the table, my friend I have something to tell you I know you're weary and need rest I know all that you've been through. On the table is some special bread And some very special wine It's not the type you can...
We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV Sometimes the most ordinary moments carry the most divine reminders. We think faith is this big, perfect thing we have to hold onto without wavering, but more often, it looks like trembling hands reaching for the...
Back in the 1990s, when personal circumstances became uncertain, a song by worship leader Bob Fitts, He Will Come and Save You became one of my lifelines as it spoke reassurance and hope to my heart. It was inspired by the following Scripture: "Say to those who...
I was first introduced to the Serenity Prayer standing in a gift shop as a young girl and I remember first thinking it must be a quote taken directly from the Bible, for its truth was so impactful, and simply reading the verses made me...
I’ve somehow gotten grouped into the “older” generation. It wasn’t that long ago that I was on the other side of the generational curve, telling everyone else what was new and the newest trend. I don’t find this new reality that I’m facing, my mortality,...
Some scriptures require a bigger ‘meditation’ response than others. The beatitudes are so countercultural that I have to let them sit in my mind, steeping, in order to receive and believe them. ‘Blessed are the merciful.’ In our urban, digital, cancel-culture, social keyboard warrior society,...
Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with a series of blessings, known as the Beatitudes – statements that turn the world’s values upside down. One of these, in particular, has always stood out to me, mostly because I had misunderstood it for so long: "Blessed...
Being the peacemaker isn’t always peaceful. As a former lay-counsellor who has always felt a calling to commiserate and be a safe, judgement-free space for people, it quite often happens that family and friends come to me to talk about their problems. The prospect of...