Consider this

                  Especially at this time of the year, most people are aware of the fact that God loved us so much that he sent his Son (See John 3:16-17).   It is important to know that God is a giver and that he took the first step to bring us back home.   What most people do not realize, though, is how God gives.   1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”   How does God give?   He gives lavishly.   His giving is over the top and more than we could possibly imagine.                   Luke 6:38 restates that idea when it says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed do...

                  When Dianna Rasing woke up on November 21, 2016, she had no idea that her life was about to change.                 While swimming laps at the Pam Am pool that morning, she noticed that the left side of her body felt numb.   As she made her way to the side of the pool, lifeguard Andrea Orobko realized that Rasing was in distress and came to her aid.   Rasing was having a stroke and without Orobko’s help she would have been in big trouble.                 One year later, Rasing went back to the pool to meet the woman who had saved her life.   She gave Orobko a big hug, a package of lifesavers and a super hero c...

                For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go to Cape Canaveral, Florida and visit the “Kennedy Space Center”.   Last week, I got my chance. For an entire day, Sara and I wandered around marvelling over rockets, spacesuits and moon rocks.   It was incredible!                 The amazing thing about the space program is that it was built entirely on hope.   When John F. Kennedy made his famous speech stating that the United States was going to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade, America had put a grand total of one astronaut into space.   In fact, that historic flight by Alan Shepherd was not even an orbital mission.   All he did was go up and come back down. ...

                Recently, the Estevan Motor Speedway crowned their track champions at their annual awards banquet.   One of the interesting stories of the night was that Joey Galloway won the Modified Division without winning a race.   Instead, the key to his success was consistency.   He just kept showing up and finishing in the top five every night.   While everyone wants to be the one holding the checkered flag at the end of the race night, Galloway proved that championships are built on steady performance over the long term.                 In a world that often focuses on the spectacular, it is good to remind ourselves that success usually comes from consistently doing ordinary, everyda...

                The term “early adopter” is applied to those who take to new ideas very quickly.                   I am not one of those people!   When I go out for breakfast, I order the same thing every time.   I have been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan my entire life.   Green has always been my favourite colour.   When I find something that I like, I stick with it.                 Speaking of favourites, did you know that most people have a favourite method for reading and understanding scripture?   Simply stated, we look for commands.   We like passages that tell us to do or think something, or to stop doing ...

                  I do not like waiting.   I hate having to have patience.   I do not like not knowing.   Call me a control freak, but I want to fix things and make situations better.   Unfortunately, there are lots of events that are out of my control.       What do you do in those situations?                   If you have ever been to the circus, you have probably seen the trapeze artists.   A trapeze act is made up of two performers: a flyer and a catcher.   When the flyer is in air, he or she has only one job and that is to wait.   If the flyer panics, or starts thrashing around trying to catch the catcher, it is likely that things are ...

                My wife, Sara, took up painting this past summer.   In the process, she noted that to paint something accurately you must see it differently.   She grew up on a farm and has seen thousands of dugouts and sloughs, but painting one requires a different vision.   “You have to notice things you did not notice before.   You need to see how the sun glints off the surface.   You must account for the way the reeds reflect in the water.   Seeing it is one thing, but to replicate it, you must look for the small details that make the entire picture”.                 A second look is often beneficial.   It is easy to assume that we know all that there is to know.   Ho...