Can sorrow and joy walk hand-in-hand? Can you hold both sadness and happiness together?  Black is often associated with sorrow or mourning. I don’t naturally think of mourning when I think of a gift. It’s quite the opposite usually. I was first introduced to the phrase “a gift wrapped in black”  when reading an autobiography by Joni Eareckson Tada. It struck me as rather odd, so I continued reading to find out what she meant.

Six months of preparation. Countless team meetings, multiple fundraising events, hours of prayer and studying the word together. A large amount of time and effort was spent just making sure everything was in order to travel as a team of 29, many being minors or first time travelers. Coordinating travel plans, itineraries, how and where to serve the people of Guatemala. Preparing my family, a husband on shift work and two children, mentally, emotionally, practically and spiritually – how would they cope with me being gone; not just away from home but, at times, unable to be reached? Was God going to be as present back home as I suspected He would be on this trip? Was this six months of preparation really going to be worth exchanging for nine days in Guatemala?

There are certain events in life that you never forget. More often than not, it’s usually the type of circumstance that ambushes your senses, a seismic disruption of the ground beneath your feet. The type of thing that you never see coming, but leaves you dazed and disoriented in its wake. Such was the day when I inadvertently discovered my earthly origin.

Today’s guest post shares how one woman courageously left all behind in order to embrace God’s amazing Gospel truth. All of us can relate to some extent to the feelings she had, and I hope you’ve come to understand and embrace the freedom she discovered too.

“Have you felt lonely today, yesterday, this past year? Do you feel like you spend more time feeling isolated than feeling fulfilled by your social community? As cliché as this sounds, you are not alone in this, and that is why this is such an important thing to talk about seriously and to look at with a biblical lens. CNN reported in October 2023 that in a recent Meta-Gallup survey one in four adults worldwide reported that they feel fairly or very lonely. (Nicioli, 2023). This is the standard worldwide and we are no different in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2021). Loneliness is experienced by many people and can be debilitating.” But there’s always hope! Keep reading…

As Remembrance and Veterans Day approaches, we want to honour those in the military. So, we have a beautiful piece to share with you written by a military wife of her experience. She shares insight into what it’s like to be “dependent” in this role. Please take a few minutes today to read what she’s shared, as there is wisdom we can all take from it.

“I loved listening to stories growing up; especially the ones of my parents they shared with their friends. There was so much richness in it…”

Have you been hurt or neglected from a relative because of addictions? What do you do when they call and want back in your life? Is it possible to be healed from such long and deep wounds? Today’s story is written by someone who courageously worked through this process with the Lord. Find out what she discovered.

“I sat at my computer waiting for the all too familiar zoom screen to show the people on the other end.  I had been terrified for weeks for this meeting.  The one that might finally end the unknowing narrative playing out in my mind.  I had prayed many times that the explanation would be different from the one I suspected, but this was the meeting that would tell me the truth.  As questions were asked, and experiences were shared the meeting seemed to last for an eternity, until the final minutes where the diagnosis was finally said.  I had an eating disorder.  Something I had known since I was a child, but the reality was finally crashing down…”

Have you ever gone hiking in the woods in winter? You start down the meandering path, breathing deeply to fill your lungs with the crisp, fresh air. As you go farther along, you notice subtle scents of evergreen needles, dormant trees and damp leaves. You look up to try to catch a glimpse of the scolding squirrels jumping from branch to branch overhead, and suddenly you realize the path ahead abruptly splits. You stop to look around. Both paths appear well travelled, the snow equally trampled in both directions, but you cannot see ahead to where each path leads. How do you choose which way to go?