Whatever He Says

By Belinda I just got off the phone with Rob, whom I had called to wish "happy Easter."  We chatted for about 20 minutes before I mentioned the main thing on my mind (I know, such self control;) the laptop. "Oh,  no, Belinda" he said, "I didn't get it yet." "Phew," I thought; but,"Well, you don't want to rush into these things," was what I said. :) Rob explained (unnecessarily) all the reasons why he hadn't got one yet,  and also mentioned that he hasn't yet got the printer that he bought to use with his camera, up and running yet.  "Well, these things take time," I said (truly agreeing with the statement this time!) As we casually chatted, he said that our friends Chris, Eileen and Nel are coming down from Kendal to see him next Saturday. "I don't know why they are coming," he joked. I said, "Oh, yes, for your birthday!"  He laughed. We ended with me saying that of

By Belinda Today after our Good Friday communion service, our family got together for Easter dinner. In the afternoon, I got out the treats I had bought for our six grandchildren. I'd chosen them with care--chocolate hockey players for the two boys, and prettily boxed Belgian chocolates for the four girls. I swear there was nothing on the boxes to indicate that some of the chocolates were liqueurs ! To my dismay though, when my daughter-in-law Sue looked at the little paper in the box that described the selection of chocolates, she quickly noticed!  That resulted in an afternoon of leg pulling and funny stories, including the one below, a favourite that makes us laugh every time someone says, "Remember the time mom parked her car..." Brenda and Sue suggested that I re-post the story, so here it is.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was on my way back to the office from a morning meeting; a trip that went right

Note from Belinda On this, the second day of Holy Week, I am reflecting on the cost of my salvation and the goodness of God in making it possible. So often when Paul and I pray in the morning, I thank God that he made himself known to me; expressing gratitude over and over again that he pervades my life such that I cannot imagine living without the knowledge of him. He has transformed and healed so many broken corners of my soul, and still continues to soften and gentle me into his image more truly than I reflect it at this moment. This morning I read a post written by my dear friend Dave Hingsburger:  Loud Speakers versus Quiet Words . I wonder why anyone thinks that they can shout people into the Kingdom of God with words that sound like threats. I know that would have repulsed me.  Jesus did get angry and use loud words occasionally, but only with the "religious" and the hypocrites. Mostly he was exceedingly gentle, although he never diluted hard truth. I once wr

By Belinda Can you believe it--just two weeks from now, on April 6, I will be in Alvechurch, all being well. And  I hope that  Rob will have been happily celebrating his 60th birthday with me. So this morning I called him to say hi. He was watching  The Grace Kelly Story , but not "watch-watching it," he hastened to assure me.  Bruce was sitting beside Rob, pressing up against him as firmly as he could and occasionally he giving a little bark as a bird flew by the window or some sound triggered his guarding instinct. I told Rob that Molson's second litter of puppies had been born and that Molson himself had just had a trip to the beauty shop and was sporting a red bandana and a great haircut. Then Rob shocked me with a piece of news. "I'm thinking of getting a laptop Belinda," he said. "Oh, no," I thought; but didn't say of course; mentally calculating how long it would take him to get up to speed on the internet and figure out ho

By Belinda We sang, wrestled with beat, rhythm, harmony and key. With every attempt our voices grew stronger, more confident, the sound more harmonious. In the end we fancied a distinct likeness to the 70's pop group ABBA. Well, we had been at practice for an hour and a half by then; perhaps we were delusional--or maybe we just really, really sounded good. We spilled out of the church into the coolness of night long fallen. Car doors slammed, assaulting the silence, headlights beamed and motors sped us away to our homes. As I drove, the result of our efforts made me think about things hard won.  There are battles in my life I have not yet won. They are testimony to my human frailty, weakness, selfishness, self indulgence, and self deception, but I haven't given up; I am still on the journey. I have some hard won relationships and those I cherish more than words can fully express.We have wrestled with notes that jarred and wrong keys and practiced our friendships with

By Belinda It's the weekend, the sun is shining brightly with the promise of spring coming soon, and at many intersections, I notice that colourful signs are stuck into the banks of  mud mixed with snow , pointing passersby to the many new housing developments being built in the communities surrounding ours. As I drove to church this morning, I passed one such sign, pointing towards the town in which we bought our first home, and it made me think of how much I didn't want to leave there when Paul felt "moved to move" closer to his place of work nearly 30 years ago.  Looking back, I am so glad that we did move back then. Even though that particular move felt like a bit of a disaster for the first few months, it was all part of God's plan to move us into position for the next step in his life plan for us. And that made me think of all the places I didn't want to leave and that I now would not want to go back to; there have been quite a few! One of my chi

By Belinda Lent, a season of fasting, reflection, preparation and mourning, precedes Holy week; the week leading up to Easter morning--that glorious dawn when the sacrifice of a son breaks the power of hell and offers the free gift of grace to the world. Last Sunday Paul and I sat in a pew at  Yorkminster Citadel Salvation Army Church in Toronto  and learned of a different way of celebrating Lent:  Forty Acts of Generosity .  It was wonderful to learn about; and although it's too late for this year; next year that's the way I want to celebrate Lent. But that's not what this blog post is about. We were at the church to bear witness to an act of generosity I cannot begin to imagine. One young couple, who found themselves in spite of birth control of the most final kind; unexpectedly (and miraculously) parents-to-be; at a time and stage in their lives when they hadn't planned on a baby. But instead of ending that life in abortion, as some might have done, they felt

By Belinda I reflected on the important things in life recently in a post called  What Really Matters . One of the things that writing that post prompted me to do, was to think about not letting opportunities to build memories with grandchildren, slip by in the busyness of work and other commitments. This past Saturday was Championship Day for the BCHL (Barrie Christian Hockey League,) and my last chance to see three of our grandchildren play this season. I decided that I couldn't miss it--and I'm so glad I didn't! There were three games--at 1.45; 4.30 and 5.45. I arrived at the first one in time to find my family: son, daughter in law, two grandsons and a granddaughter, there to watch our youngest granddaughter, aged 7, play on the team called the Timbits. "She's the one in the pink helmet," Pete said. Across the big ice rink I spotted her behind the glass enclosure, looking ahead as though her mind was somewhere far away, as, indeed, it turned ou

B y Belinda It was a year a go today tha t Mum left this wo rld for the next. I wrote about it then , in a post entitled Gratitude.  G ratitude, not gr ief ; was the overwhelming emotion I felt then, and it has only grown since then. To want more would have been to be ungrateful, grasping, selfish even. How could we not be grateful for all that we had received ? How could we not be grateful for the gentleness of her passing?  I feel her presence often. Not in a weird way, I hasten to say ; but it would be rare, when I am singing with the worship team at church, for me not to look at the pew from which she would watch us prac tice ; and not think of her. I see her glowing face, beaming with love and pride; knowing that she was enjoying the moment intensely--and she is there. I called Ro b t his morning . "I was up there this morning Belinda," he said ; and I didn' t have to ask w here. "I put a nice bunch of orange roses, (for the  Dutch House of O