Whatever He Says

Paul and I went to the prescreening of the movie Courageous last week. Go to see it when it opens, the weekend of September 30th and support this movie! You will be inspired, blessed and challenged to examine priorities.

By Belinda  On Sunday morning the worship team sang the Chris Tomlin song, I Will Rise . The lyrics of the first verse resonated more deeply than ever as I thought about what I tried to begin explaining last Wednesday. There's a peace I've come to know Though my heart and flesh may fail There's an anchor for my soul I can say "It is well" Jesus has overcome And the grave is overwhelmed The victory is won He is risen from the dead And I will rise...  "The grave  is overwhelmed"...oh, how I love those words! The graveyard of "the law;" the dry bones and dust of  "the will" apart from his will. I recently began using The Valley of Vision , a collection of Puritan prayers, as a guide to meditation and devotion. It was recommended by my friend and sister in the Lord, Ann Voskamp , and from the moment I first opened its pages I loved that small, black leather bound book. So much so that it has become one of my greatest treas...

By Belinda They followed me home from church, their silver van tracking my beat up, faithful Honda over the rural road, up hills, past farms and fields. At least once a month we have a big family dinner and this was the day. We missed last month's due to vacations, so it felt like a long time since our house was filled full with grandchildren. They piled out of the van and Andrew said, "We followed you all the way from church." I said, "I didn't realize. If I knew you were following I would have driven so much better!" This was true. :) 7 year old William asked, "Do you know if we are having Yorkshire's?" "Hmm," I said, thoughtfully, "Let me see." "Well, obviously you do know," he said, seeing that he'd asked the wrong question. I laughed and was happy to confirm for William that yes, indeed there would Yorkshire's! I made 48 Yorkshire puddings in fact, to go with the roast beef, and all of ...

By Belinda "What's cooking?" It's the question people ask as they come through the front door on Thursday  evenings. The casserole that I took out of the freezer for cell group this week was not what expected it to be. When I took the foil off the container thawing on my stove top it was the shepherd's pie that I had created out of the left over pot roast and gravy from a couple of weeks ago, seasoned with Worcestershire sauce until it tasted good to me and topped with mashed potato and grated cheese. I had intended it for some humbler occasion than cell group dinner. My plan had been lasagne, although when recently making multiple pans of it I had mistakenly thawed out chilli sauce instead of tomato sauce and I had to explain the unexpected kidney beans in the first lasagne I served. I figured that the shepherds pie would be large enough, but later, as it was baking, just for good measure I peered into the fridge, full of many odds and ends of leftove...

By Belinda (but not really) I miss my friend and co-worker Susan, who is on the ferry back to the mainland from Newfoundland as I type this. I was filing away a great quote on my work laptop a minute ago, when I came across an hilarious email from Susan in response to an email from me in which I was clarifying responsibilities for a meeting.  I know that she won't mind at all if I share it here and if it makes your head spin or makes you laugh--enjoy the ride. I do! :) Please see email sent to you July 17 at 9:46 a.m. wherein I clearly volunteered to do the snacks.  Mind you, you said, "I beg to differ", in your response, but I thought you were talking about whether or I was responsible for doing an excellent job on the minutes.  (I said it was thanks to you, and you said, "I beg to differ".)  I think you must have been so excited about differing with me that you totally missed reading the last line of that email to you which read, I'll do the snac...

By Belinda 2 Peter 1:3-4 New International Version (NIV) Confirming One’s Calling and Election   3  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  4  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. What I have finally understood--fully, completely and clearly; as never before; is that at the moment of our receiving Christ's sacrifice for our lives--with our messed up attempts at goodness; selfish motivations, greed and potential for the basest of sin--at that moment, an exchange takes place. His life for ours. All along, this was the answer to Patricia's question: "How could God ask us to be perfect?" We will be perfect because he is--he in us, living his life through us.  I have been getting the picture clearer ...

By Belinda Her question, asked some 30 odd years ago, went unanswered. I wish I had told her then that I just didn't know the answer but I would try to figure it out. Of course it has taken me all this time to understand. I'm a very slow learner. Tonight I went looking for her letter. When I finally began my first wave of cleaning out the loft room a couple of winters ago, I had carefully sorted all the letters I had saved in boxes; I have never been able to throw letters away. The letters are all neatly filed in date order now, in sheet protectors in binders. I hadn't looked at them for a while, but I was struck by how a lifetime can be traced in letters. I also had a wave of nostalgia for a pleasure lost to the generation growing up now--that of opening a letter and sitting down to read something more carefully composed than a text message. The letter I was looking for was from a girl named Patricia, whom I once taught in Sunday school. The class was for girls age...