Whatever He Says

By Belinda It was during Sunday's worship practice that I turned to Frances, who had moved last Friday to the house of her dreams in the country, and said, "I don't know where you are any more!" She understood immediately what I meant; my sense of disconnection; not knowing where to place her in my thoughts. I had seen the photos of the house on Face Book, but it wasn't like seeing the house in context of its surroundings. "Come and see it after church," said Frances and included Susan in the invitation and on the spur of the moment we took her up on her invitation. Frances and Brian had moved from a home that they had made beautiful, in a subdivision in Alliston, but both of them longed for the country and wide open spaces. A next door neighbour with a penchant for noisy hot tub parties that went into the wee small hours added to the sense of urgency. When they found the house in Mansfield, 20 minutes from their home in Alliston they fell ...

By Belinda  This is another "smattering," or crazy quilt day.. I lay in bed late, luxuriating in the knowledge that it was sabbath. No chores to do, no list to follow, not even a day of hospitality after church with last minute preparations to be made. Just a generous getting-ready-for-church time ahead. While in the bathroom, sipping on a steaming cup of delicious black coffee as I powdered my nose and lipsticked my lips, the phone rang.  "Did I wake you up?" It was my friend Frances. "I called at 8.30 and there was no answer," she went on with the urgency of a friend who "needs to talk." She told me of having a shadow week; a week of silence from God; of feeling adrift somehow and worst of all, knowing partly why; choices made. Late yesterday evening, she had driven home from work through dark night spun with finest diamonds. As they danced and sparkled in her headlights, she thought with regret of the diamonds God offers and what we trade for ...

By Belinda It was the Saturday morning of my crazy weekend before leaving for England ; the weekend when I wasn't going to church, but did. The phone rang and the voice on the other end said, "Are you busy?" It was my dear friend Frances. "Busy? Just a little!" I thought with a wry smile. "Not too busy for you," I said. Then the words poured through the receiver, all of a jumble, catching me up on all the news of God afoot in my friend's life. Here is just a snippet: It was Wednesday and Frances was at the Ganz warehouse sale with 10 year old Eden, one of my God daughters and my namesake (Belle is her middle name.) I was the one who cut her umbilical cord when Brian, her dad, gladly conceded that honour to me! Eden had been so good all day, but had lost Frances in the store, so she went to the front where they made an announcement. Frances didn't hear the first announcement because she was humming the new song we had learned as ...

It was a chaotic morning in the Furuya household. It began with Frances waking with a start from a deep sleep, at the sound of her teenage son Jacob's voice. "Mom, I slept in," he said, leaning over her with his flaming halo of red hair and serious brown eyes. Usually Jacob gets up at 7.00 and wakes Frances up, but on this day, it was 8.15 and he was late for school. Frances got up right away, rushing to get the girls, Summer and Eden to their public school. She was late dropping them off and had to sign them in at the office. Summer went off into the school by herself, and Frances and Eden were about to leave the office, when they found the doorway blocked by two small girls, on their way in. "You need to step aside," thought Frances, already out of sorts with the way the day had gone so far. Her thoughts found voice in a cool, "Excuse me please," aimed at the girls. Frances was focused on the two little round bodies in the doorway. She saw orange T s...