The last day of the year. A time to reminisce. A time for nostalgia. To sing auld lang syne as I usher in a new year. But also a time to make some decisions. To identify what truly matters, and pursue it wholeheartedly. Resolutions are passé. I’ve made them before. And forgotten them within a…
Category: The 50-Day Writing Challenge
Trivial Pursuits
I’m not really a crafty person. Before you begin wondering if I’m refusing to accept a charge of being duplicitous or devious, let me clarify that I’m disavowing any claim of craftsmanship. However I do enjoy working with my hands. Whether this be working on a jigsaw puzzle, painting a paint-by-numbers canvas, sketching or colouring in…
Contemplating The Challenge
We’re on the home stretch now. Only three more days to go. This 50-Day Writing Challenge began as something to motivate me to be disciplined about writing. Since then it has morphed into an avenue to process and express my thoughts and emotions. Additionally, it has helped me see beyond writing for the sake of writing….
Heart Cries
Oh Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for not wanting to obey You. For wanting my own way. For allowing fear and anger to rule me. For the unkind thoughts and words. For the lack of love. For all that does not glorify You, I’m sorry! Please change me Father because I cannot. This hard, bitter…
The Root of Bitterness
All that morning I walked around in a haze of anger. Regardless of the cause, I felt justified in my ire. I hugged it to myself, thinking over the words, imputing negative motives and intentions, stoking the resentment. As the antagonism built up within me, I found myself in such a tangle of fury and…
A Firm Foundation
Christmas is all about trust. Mary trusting God in the face of unimaginable odds. Joseph trusting God in the face of unpalatable facts. The shepherds trusting an angelic choir in the middle of a cold night. And later, the Magi trusting that the star was truly the signal of a royal birth not a figment…
On The Night Before Christmas
It’s Christmas Eve. All is quiet. Everyone’s asleep; except the baby kicking inside me. I think of all the Christmases that have gone before. And the ones waiting ahead with bated breath. So much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to. But most of all, remembering that I have a Reason…
The Maternal Instinct
They tore through me suddenly – Rage and fury – refusing to answer mildly To the instigation. Primitive instincts perhaps But nothing to be ashamed of, regardless. It’s a mother’s instinct To protect, shield, keep from harm -even verbal, especially verbal… Even if the abuser is a child That does not excuse the abuse Especially…
Packing Woes
Feet aching; arms drooping I sit, thinking, Debating If its worth continuing. But someone has to do the packing So I better not be thumb-twiddling; Instead, get all the clothing, Ready for travelling. Two bags to begin with Have swelled to four. MD will not be pleased. Oh well! He should be glad there aren’t…
The Insidiousness of Backbiting
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” Proverbs 18:21 I wish I remembered this more often. It would save me a lot of remorse and compunction. I sometimes wonder why I’m unable to guard my tongue. Why do the negative words trip over themselves in rushing out? While encouraging, affirming words require…
A Paean To Friendship
It’s fun to catch up with old friends. And there’s nothing like meeting up during the Christmas season to spread joy and cheer among the festivities. Today we met up with a couple of MD’s oldest friends and their families. It’s such a joy to see how things have changed – increasing broods and widening…
I’m A Terrible Parent – And Other Fears
Parenting is hard work. As my daughter grows older, I am challenged each time I teach or correct her. Every time I think I have gained ground in one issue, I realise that I have moved two steps back in another area. Over the last week, I’ve been fighting small fires – and sensing my…
A True Treasure
The little worries which we meet each day May lie as stumbling-blocks across our way, Or we may make them stepping-stones to be Of grace, O Lord, to Thee. -A. E. Hamilton Sometimes, as I pass through days of calm serenity, a sudden jolt—a thought—can set me back apace. One thought leads to another, and…
The Lord’s Remembrancer
I found a lovely little phrase tucked away in something Amy Carmichael wrote, that threw new light on what it means to be an intercessor. She describes how someone far away from home, a missionary perhaps, is filled with a sense of homesickness sometimes, since despair and loneliness are very much a part of working…
Mary, Did You Know?
**This post first appeared on Indiaanya** “Every mother should have at least one Christmas baby. It makes one feel very close to Mary.” -Ruth Bell Graham I think that is so true. There is something about being pregnant during the Christmas season that makes it all the more poignant. Aspects of motherhood that hitherto…
My Greatest Desire
Lord, let me be hid in You. Close to Your heart, may I remain. Futilely, I have chased after peace; and admit, finally, that it is found only in You. I do not want a great calling. Teach me to accept both renown and obscurity, with equanimity. May my deepest joy and satisfaction be that…
The Phone Call
I think about you, and wonder if I do dare make that call and say, ‘Hello’. What if there are recriminations and malicious sarcasm? I would rather not have to listen to that form of persecution. Then I consider my own cowardice. How contrary to my Lord’s response to worse – condemnation, contempt, crucifixion! Forgiveness….
The Sociable Introvert
They say that one never truly appreciates something until it is no longer there. I would have to agree. Let me explain. I’m an introvert. I love my solitude and guard it jealously. Silence and being alone, replenishes me mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I do have friends but I do not need them to…
Under Construction
A friend of mine said something simple yet profound yesterday. In the book of Haggai, God says that His temple is in ruins. So my friend asked God what he ought to do to help rebuild the temple. And God replied, “My temple is not a building of stones and brick. It is you.” I…
O Come Let Us Adore Him
**This post first appeared on Indiaanya** It had been sitting on the ‘To-Be-Read’ shelf for more than a year. I’d bought One Wintry Night because I have a thing for collecting books by favourite authors and Ruth Bell Graham is definitely on the top of that list. I knew it was a children’s book, so…
inkhorn 