The comet ISON, astronomers predicted earlier this year, could prove a heavenly Christmas gift to sky-watchers. The 2013 “Christmas star,” bright enough for daylight viewing.  I decided not to miss it. “But comets are like cats,” one expert noted.  “Unpredictable. To reach maximum brilliance, ISON will have to survive a …

On November 21st, two and a half-weeks before her due date, our daughter made a panicked 4 a.m. call to our house. We’d expected that call, just not quite so early—and not quite so terrifying. “Mom, I’m bleeding like mad. We’re leaving for the hospital NOW. We’ll leave the door …

Family. It confines us, it defines us, it refines us, and it aligns us. Our lives are spent in the context of family—natural or other, whether or not we appreciate it. Best-selling Canadian author and artist Michael O’Brian, in his book Father at Night, a collection of personal stories and …

I began 2013 by compiling, with regret, my potential “grand-lasts.” No grand prospects on the son side. Four grandbeans on the daughter’s—the youngest, newly turned two. I suspected I’d entered the final season of beany babies. Last rock-a-byes, large eyes locked onto mine. Last tiny arms encircling my neck. Last …

If Protestants had a Pope, Billy may have been chosen, though he would never consider the post. In a website photo he sits in a large chair in his rustic living room. There can be no mistaking his piercing eyes, angular features or strong chin. A cloud of wavy frost-white …

I love my high-ceilinged office downtown, where phones ring and faxes buzz. Where people drop in to discuss big, troubling issues. Sometimes, to my amazement, God lets me make a difference there. But I cherish time spent at home. Small is good there. The people who drop in, most often …

My new passport arrived today. I slid it from the red-striped ExpressPost envelope and flipped through its ornate pages, wondering which country’s stamps will one day decorate the crisp parchment. India? Africa? US? UK? God alone knows. One country is likely. I’ve known that ever since the day the Preacher …

I ticked something off my bucket list the other day. # 27: Make cornhusk dolls with my granddaughters. When our children were young and we lived in Ontario, our family ran a small cottage industry called “Church Mice Associated.” Since we identified with the poverty of that proverbial rodent, we …

My daughter and I, along with several other women from our church, stood in our friend Loretta’s driveway, preparing to leave on a weekend retreat. As her husband helped load her luggage into their van, I noticed a small circular cutout in the driveway under the van’s bumper. The shallow …