I think a lot of us would say we desire to be wise. Or at least known as wise, which is different.
For me it’s true, I definitely want to be a wise person. But often I suspect deep down I don’t mind...
There’s a section of Romans 7, which drives me crazy.
When you’re asked to name a person who has made a lasting impact in your life (for the better), who comes to mind?
For me, it’s Sheri. And the funny thing is, it wasn’t until after she moved to a...
Recently I met a woman whose passion is to bring the art of etiquette back into the home.
At the top of her etiquette to-do list: manners.
In an age where “please” and “thank you...
Last week I was reading the “Top Five Resolutions for 2012” online somewhere and realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’ve actually set a resolution. Or even a goal for that matter...
Every year Christmas seems to get more complicated. Maybe I’ve just been protected from it all these years, or unaware of holiday politics as I was so busy with other things like travelling or seeing...
I’ll be the first to tell you I have a difficult time using my imagination. It’s not that I can’t use it…it’s just difficult for me to see things that aren’t really there.
For me this “...
Quick, what's the first thing that pops into your head when you think about Christmas? Food? Family? Jesus? Snow? Stress?
Until recently Christmas was the most comfortable time of the year for me. I...
Becoming an adult. Everyone does it but questions remain. Questions like when? And how?
We refer to childhood and adulthood as if they are completely separate identities or phases. But are they...
Around Christmastime in my third year of university a brilliant money making idea popped into my head—I would sell customized toques to fellow students!
So, I took a photo, made a poster and,...
Nearly two years ago I purchased my very own place—all by myself. I worked hard, saved harder, and sacrificed many social events and outings in order to make my goal a reality.
I was so proud...
There's this friend I have who's a little bit spoiled. You probably have a friend like that too. Someone who (in your opinion) has never needed to work very hard and seems to take it for granted.
It’s a common character we see all over both in pop culture and in real life—the person who always seems to have it all together. This person is also, incidentally, someone you’re insanely...
I’ve written about forgiveness before but I think it bears repeating since it’s so difficult to do.
For me it seems each time I feel offended or wronged in some way, I am tempted to revel in the...
A friend of mine told me of her love for her new GPS.
“It takes the ‘are we there yet,’ question right out of the conversation,” she said.
When travelling, her kids...
Even if you didn’t bother to see the 2009 disaster film “2012,” if you lived in North America you were undoubtedly subjected to the movie’s intense marketing strategy.
Not only was there...
A few years ago I was invited to watch a movie with some new friends. Quickly I agreed and we spent the next couple hours in comfortable silence watching (what I took to be) a light romantic comedy....
I remember it like it was yesterday. Driving home early January 1, 2000 and gazing at the empty streets and closed businesses. It seemed like a ghost town. Sure I knew I wasn't witnessing the rapture...
Have you ever played that game where you’re wearing a blindfold and someone else leads you through an obstacle course with nothing but his voice?
“Take three large steps forward and then turn...
A few years ago a friend and I were handed the task of “entertaining” some foreign students for the day. We didn’t have very good attitudes about it but begrudgingly decided to take them...
As a child of the 80s I grew up listening to music with a moral message. The songs were easy to remember, catchy, and taught you how to remember your phone number, what to do if you got in a fight,...
In the blog How do you “Laugh it Off?” I said since laughter is not humour but a response to humour learning to laugh stuff off comes down to your attitude and choosing to find humour in...
Each weekday at 7:40 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m. my stress level rises considerably. This stress can last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on—you guessed it—how traffic is. Yes,...
I know, I know. It seems impossible. When you’re stressed or frustrated and your emotions are heightened, how do you just “laugh it off” like nothing happened? And when you’re stressed...
Recently an acquaintance revealed to me he could hear colour. My first thought was to shrug it off, since he’s an artist-type and they’re apt to assert such things. But here I am a few weeks later,...
School seems to get the brunt of blame for kids that don’t turn out quite right…or don’t discover their potential.
I’ve always wondered about why that is. You probably hear like I do about kids...
If you’re anything like me, whenever you hear the phrase “the least of these” you immediately think of those commercials with sad hungry kids and homeless people sitting on the streets.
I’ve never had a good memory for celebrities or trivia, but I always marvelled at the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The rules are simple: take any actor or celebrity and link him or her to actor...
When I was young, maybe seven or eight, my family went two provinces east to visit friends. Since we were visiting a sleepy little town (and since it was the 80s) my parents told me to take my bike...
Probably you’re familiar with method acting—techniques actors sometimes use to identify more closely with their characters emotions and thoughts. They do this in the hope of a more realistic...
Where I grew up there was a series of mountains and hills, one of which housed a beautiful monastery. I found the monastery intriguing. While I enjoyed living in the country I couldn’t quite...
Doubt is a lot like the wind—you can’t physically see it but you know when it’s there. Since it’s tough to relate to something we can’t see it makes sense why we use metaphors like a downward...
Have you ever had a mountaintop experience?
This term can be taken literally, figuratively, or even spiritually. If you have experienced the spiritual mountaintop you are probably also familiar with...
A few weeks ago I heard a story of a man who was walking down a sidewalk street when he happened upon a downtrodden man rifling through the contents of a dumpster. The man who was walking stopped and...
There are a lot of analogies to describe a grudge and how difficult it is to shake one once you have it—for example quicksand, sludge, cocaine, a bog, and—one I’ve just learned—a...
Recently I learned the meaning of the surfing phrase “dropping in.” Basically, if you decide to catch a wave that someone else has already put dibs on, you’re dropping in. It’s really...
I've always imagined a grudge as something like a brownish-grey blob, which follows you around like a cloud, feeding off your feelings of resentment and ill will towards whoever has insulted you. The...
In my group of friends there are two girls who aren’t seen much together. In fact when the group meets if one is going the other won’t show.
Now, the reasons are somewhat understandable. There’s a...
This month our focus has been on living healthy lives filled with good words like boundaries, purity, and no regrets. That said the majority of us have events in our personal histories, which we are...
What would you say if someone asked you about sexual purity?
It’s easy to give a pat answer in black and white. However, if you want to really get into the meaning of purity and how to find it in our...
Just like a definition gives us the exact meaning of a word, a boundary gives an exact beginning and an end to whatever it is describing.
Personal boundaries can be physical—as in personal...
For many people the term “A Proverbs 31 Woman” puts images of a June Cleaver-like clone in their heads. She’s someone who lives for her husband and family, someone who manages her...
You know those people who seem to be generous by nature? They’re the ones who give coins to beggars, buy tickets to their friend’s plays or shows in support, and constantly take you and your friends...
Often we connect being a good steward as tithing at church or to charity, but it’s so much more than that. “Stewardship” refers to the management of affairs, property, or supplies with...
How do you view time? Something to be chased? Something to find? Something to dream about? Something to be lost? What about something to be quantified?
Here's another question: Would you say you are...
Does art reflect culture or does culture reflect art? Although the updated version could just as easily replace “art” with “television” or “social media,” the age-...
Anticipation is a funny thing. Literally it means “expectation.” And expectation means you are confident the thing you're anticipating will happen.
Funny, right?
OK maybe not literally funny, but...
Let’s face it we all experience tough times. These times take many different forms and leave their mark on our lives.
When times are tough—especially when in the midst of a trial—it’s...
Have you ever had tunnel vision?
I don’t mean literally, when you stand up too fast and lose your peripheral vision, or when you get a degenerative eye condition where you lose your vision from the...
In the last semester of my fourth year of university I had an assignment, which was challenging to say the least. I had to create a conceptual mixed media photography project based on a chosen...
