It’s been a while since I counted some gratitudes, and it feels like it’s time, again. So here we go:

1. I’m grateful for the work of Graceview’s Session and our Music and Worship Cte who have found some creative ways to make Advent special this year, even as we face a season unlike any other. It’s hard to change the way we do things, but I’m grateful to have committed elders and members who want to do good things for their community of faith.
2. The weather today is spectacular, and Koski and I will head out for a walk as soon as I’m done writing this blog. Sunshine always makes me happy. And warm days in November in Ontario are extra-special.
3. Family and friends who have been so supportive. It’s been a tough time, and I’m sure I’ve been more needy than usual. But my friends and family just accept me as I am, and that is a gift.

What about you? What has God been pouring into your life lately that you need to take a moment and thank Him for?

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on giving thanks to God for every good and perfect gift!

That word has a bad connotation. People want things to be special and extraordinary. But there is nothing wrong with ordinary. The ordinary love of a parent is a beautiful thing. The ordinary rhythm of a week without any catastrophes is something I’v longed for this year. The ordinary meal share with family (especially if your family does not live with you) has become a rare gift.

There’s nothing wrong with ordinary.

Your ordinary kindness, ordinary prayers, ordinary way of living in the footsteps of Jesus, are the way God pours out his extraordinary love to this world.

Andrew Peterson tells the story of being at a conference with a number of different authors, pastors, theologians and artists, all of whom were believers. They were asked what they were doing to push back the darkness and shine God’s light into the world. And as people began to answer, Andrew wondered what his wife Jaimie might say. She was a part-time piano teacher and a full-time Mom. She wasn’t writing a novel or leading a church or recording an album. And when it came time for her to answer she said, “I’m raising our three children in the Lord.” I loved that answer. The ordinary work of a mom encouraging the faith of her children is a powerful thing.

So you may feel ordinary. But that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t called you to be part of his extraordinary mission of loving this world. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have to push back the darkness, to shine God’s light into the world and to love others. And trust God to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on doing the ordinary extraordinary work of loving one another!

(I feel like Jesus would agree with Ms. Maya Angelou!)

Today at Graceview we were saying a final goodbye to one of the pillars of our community of faith. Though short in stature, Ann Wright was a giant. So many of our members have told me that she was the first to welcome them to the church. So many have told me how she was THE person to go to for a reception of any kind at the church. I got to know her at Bible Studies and Advent lunches, where she would speak about her faith with sensitivity and wisdom.

Oh, and I must tell you – she made the most magical shortbread. She gave me some at an advent lunch a couple of years ago. I wasn’t feeling well, my stomach was unsettled. So I took it home and late that afternoon I decided to have a piece (because even with an upset tummy, my love of shortbread is a powerful thing). And you know what? Ann’s shortbread cured me. I swear – it was magical.

Saying goodbye to a beloved member is always difficult. Saying goodbye during a pandemic has an added layer of grief and pain. We can’t gather in the numbers we normally would. We can’t share food and conversation after the service. It’s just hard.

So I was glad to come across this today:

In the midst of a year that feels like a mess, God is still at work. And he is writing a message in you and in me that probably could not have come about any other way. It doesn’t make the mess go away, but understanding that the mess has a purpose may just give us strength to get through it.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, trust that God is at work, writing a message in your life.

This may or may not be actual photo documentation of me every morning. I can neither confirm nor deny….:

Hee hee, whoops!:

I feel like my face is like this waaaaay too often, even when there’s nothing wrong at all:

Back in the before, this is what my friends experienced when leaving my condo or my car, covered in Koski “glitter”:

This week in Ontario:

A Canadian TRAGEDY:

Ok, this one just cracked me right up (no political rants, please, it’s a joke!):

I think this has finally made sense of why I love unicorns so much (snort!):

Aw, this is just kinda fun and adorable:

And finally, this verse from Isaiah, that reminds us who God is, and why were are blessed to have faith in Him:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on laughing and thinking and drawing closer to God!

In Toronto, our mayor asked that worship services go virtual as much as possible for the next 28 days. So this week, we are doing worship much like we were throughout the Spring and Summer. Next week, we will be pre-recording in the sanctuary. We continue in the “You are Enough” series until Advent begins.

Today, let’s begin with Eric’s Prelude, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” arranged by John Carter:

A prayer to centre us on worship:

Our passage is Ephesians 1:3-14. I have read it as part of the sermon in the New Living Translation, but you can click the link if you wish to read it yourself. The sermon is “You are Enough – Accepted – Adopted by God,”:

Our hymn of response is #481 Blest be the tie that binds:

The benediction, for these days:

Eric’s postlude this week is an improvisation on “Christ is made the sure foundation,”:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that you are accepted and even more – adopted by God.

Tomorrow, our worship will be online. We will be focusing on Ephesians 1:3-14, continuing in our current series “You are Enough,” and looking at the language of being adopted by God, accepted into his family.

So today, I’m sharing some resources around that theme – how God loves loves us and calls us into his kingdom, and his family.

Let’s start with Chris Tomlin, and this great song, “Nobody loves me like you,”:

This lovely prayer based on the passage:

A couple of thoughts on how God loves us:

And this gorgeous and contemporary setting of Amazing Grace (because, as one member of Zoom Bible Study pointed out this week, the fact that God deals with us at all is grace…unmerited and free favour…and even better he LOVES us…that is AMAZING GRACE for sure!):

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that you are loved beyond measure by God who calls you into his family and pours out grace upon you.

Right now, the waters feel deep.

When I was growing up, my family would spend about a month in the summer out at the cottage owned by my Mom’s parents. We would go fishing on Obonga Lake, and my Poppa had sonar machine to help detect where the fish were and how deep the lake was beneath our boat. There were parts of that lake where the sonar could not sense the bottom of the lake. It was so deep it was unfathomable.

As a kid, that sent shivers down my spine. I loved that lake and spent every moment I could swimming in it, walking its shores, or boating its waters. But there was always this tinge of mystery, and even dread – there were parts of the lake where the waters were so deep, the bottom could not be sensed. I remember wondering what mysteries lurked in the deep dark of the lake water. And it scared me a little.

As Ontario digests alarming new COVID-19 modelling and case counts increase exponentially, it feels like the water is deep, unknowable. There is a persistent sense of dread. We wonder what lurks in the depth of the weeks and months ahead. It’s going to be a tough winter.

But what brings me comfort is the promise of God that he will be with us, when we go through the deep waters. One way or another, we will face the coming days. It will be easier to do so if we set ourselves squarely in the promises of God, who does not dissappoint.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that God is with you when you go through deep waters.

Most of us know what it is to admire the faith of another. To bump up against someone on our walk of faith who just seems to run deeper than we do, and to react to them in a way that doesn’t cause us jealousy or anxiety, but simple and sincere admiration.

I could make a list of people who I feel that way about – some of them you would never have heard of before. Others would be people like CS Lewis, whose life and works have always been held in high regard in my family.

I love the quote from him, above. It doesn’t describe me. I wish it did. I wish I was that good at prayer. That consistent about it. But I know I’m not.

Still, admiration is powerful. In admiring this quote and the man it comes from, I find myself wanting to be better at prayer. To be so close to God that it just flows out of me all the time, not just in those movements when I’m “expected” to pray. And that desire has the power to change my behavior.

The walk of faith throughout life is a walk – accomplished one step at a time. Sometimes those steps are baby steps. Sometimes they are leaps and bounds. Sometimes they are sprints. Sometimes they are a faltering, fumbling crawl. But every inch forward counts.

So think on those that you admire – what is it about them? What steps could you take in that direction? How would this change your walk of faith?

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep drawing closer to God, keep on walking that walk of faith.

These words call us to remember the sacrifice made by our ancestors who fought for the freedoms we enjoy today. Canada is a wonderful country. We enjoy kindness and humility, breathtaking landscapes, regional diversity, and general prosperity. We are not perfect. We have work to do. But I believe that we continue to work towards better tomorrows every day. And we are able to do that, because of the sacrifices made by previous generations.

Today we honour those who fell in the great wars, those who struggled the rest of their lives with psychological, emotional or physical damage from the wars, those who lost loved ones. We also recognize and remember those who continue to serve in the military this day. In a year when the military was called in to serve in floundering Long Term Care homes in Ontario, I am grateful for all the ways these brave men and women serve our country.

So today, I wanted to share a few Remembrance Day resources for you.

Let’s begin with this prayer for peace:

This video from Terry Kelly that reminds us why we take time in silence this day:

This vintage video from Bryan Adams, “Remembrance Day.”:

And for those of you who prefer more traditional fare, here is “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace,” sung by BBC’s young choristers of the year for 2016:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, may you remember and may you seek the ways of Peace.