Christmas readiness, one month out

On the night before Christmas of 2019, I sat in a cozy corner by our slender lit tree. Minutes earlier I’d stood in the backyard, waiting for our shaggy sheepdog, Cash, to finish his business, and feeling particularly UNfestive. After the hype leading to the 25th, the harried schedule, decorating, …

Shopping or seeking?

Sitting pretty atop elephant, camel and stallion, the three Seekers navigate the perimeter of my living room. For the last two months, those three ceramic magi have migrated (with a little help) from surface to surface. They’re at the south end of the piano now. Still seeking; looking steadily skywards.  …

Jesus – the best gift to give and receive

Music and lights, family, food and fellowship…Christmas washes over the land like a warm sigh. But the experience of Christmas changes as one ages. Gifts with my name on the tag took top spot in my earliest memory. Things shifted when I realized that Christmas meant giving as well; that …

Merry Christmas – or Happy Holidays?

I’m sorry. That’s all I can say to those who feel the joy has been sucked from their Christmas because they’ve encountered less-than-charitable Christians who stridently insist everyone use the phrase “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays.” What disturbs me most about that is that from what I’ve observed, the …

Enter Hope. Bring whatever you carry.

Thirty-six square feet. Nestled near our clothesline cross, under a towering maple, my tiny backyard retreat stands tall in the snow; a startling slash of crimson on an unblemished canvas. A tangible, colossal exclamation mark. The odd building with the duncecap roof and the screened lift-up sides sits just a …

The matchless gift of love and sacrifice

My favourite childhood Christmas gift showed up beside our scrawny tree on Christmas morning, unwrapped. To Beverly and Kathy. Love, Mommy and Daddy. My father spent part of his adult life as a construction worker. He built churches – a prelude to the later decades when he and Mom propped …

That little one can make a big difference

“Uh, oh. Little horse, big trouble,” I thought.  But it made sense that seven-year-old Sherah (the smallest of our three-person team) would choose the Shetland pony from the line-up of horses. The others towered over her. When Amanda had called to see if I’d accompany her and the eldest four …

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