I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalms‬ ‭121‬:‭1-4‬ NKJV

Sometimes in the pace of life, I look up suddenly and am shocked to find I haven’t written a blog in a while. The days have passed almost unnoticed. 

The reality is that we all stumble at times. We get wrapped up in the things that are going on around us. We get distracted by this or that. We get tired. We get lazy. (This is confession!)

What I love about the journey of faith is that it IS a journey. It doesn’t end because of a stumble or a sojourn down a rabbit trail. The journeyman (or woman!) needs simply get back on their feet, find the road again, and the journey will continue. This is because God doesn’t give up on us. He is always ready for that moment when we realize what we have misplaced for a time. 

Indeed, the God who watches over us, who keeps us, will neither slumber nor sleep. 

We may stumble, we may sleep, but God does not. 

During these last days of Lent, may you know that the God who never slumbers nor sleeps is waiting for your return if you have stumbled or strayed away. May you know that the journey may continue at any moment you might choose, God is waiting to journey with you. And if your journey has been going well lately, may it continue unabated. 

  

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.
Psalm‬ ‭62‬:‭5‬ NIV

During Lent, at St. Andrew’s, we’ve been in a conversation about our souls. Today, Geoff reminded us in the sermon that our souls are restless. That the world outside tends to distract and frighten us. That we long for a peace we seem unable to find. That the peace we long for is available to us if we would take the time to be still before th source of our peace: God – Father, Spirit, Jesus. 

It was one of those sermons that stays with you. You find yourself turning some of the ideas over in your mind as you go about the rest of your day. 

I am glad that it stayed with me because I have had the kind of week in which it was difficult to be still. While I cannot claim any horrible tragedies or any excessive stress during the week, there were several things that happened that caused disquietude in my soul. For the most part these were small things – a hectic schedule, an abundance of red tape during a seemingly simple process, too many change-of-plan situations. 

Each one on their own, no more than an annoyance – something I am capable of handling. All of them together, though, becoming a compounding weight, a growing storm, a rising tide of unrest in my soul. 

Today, I needed to be reminded to take time to be still before God. To seek my peace in the Prince of Peace. To find my rest in God. 

I found myself thinking that if this was a message I needed to hear today, then perhaps it was a message you also needed to hear. 

During Lent, may all our souls be still. May we trust that the Lord is on our side. May we leave it to God to order and provide. May we be good keepers of our souls. 



I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
Psalms ‭130‬:‭5‬ NKJV

Waiting is not easy. We live in a rather instantaneous world. I can deposit a cheque to my bank account in a matter of seconds from my home, simply by taking a picture of it. I can download the new Imagine Dragons album in minutes (actually, I’m doing that as I write this blog). If someone recommends a book to me in a conversation, I no longer have to wait to find it in the library or in a physical bookstore, I can download a copy to my Kindle app as we speak. I can upload videos and pictures of my trip (say, to the Holy Land) in real time (ie as they happen). 

We are not used to having to wait. Waiting no longer comes easy to us. 

And yet, in the Bible, “waiting on the Lord” is a positive thing. It is an exercise of trust, an act of faith, a labour of love. If one waits on the Lord, one does so with sureness of His coming, with hope for His future, with love and respect for His timing. 

Lent, like Advent, is a time of waiting. It is a season in which we wait on the Lord. A season in which we do not rush to the end of the story, but willingly dwell in the in-between-time. We do this with patience and with confidence. We do this because there are things we can only learn in the in-between. There are things that we can only come to while we are waiting on the Lord. 

And we do this, because it reflects our belief that God is in control. That God is wiser than we are. That if God is making us wait, He has some very good reasons for it. We do this because we trust God. 

So may you wait on the Lord during Lent. May waiting strengthen your faith, teach you what you need to learn, and ultimately be a beautiful part of your journeying with the Lord. And may you always hope in His word.



The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ NRSV

I love this verse. Always have. I’ve always found it strangely comforting that Jesus not only acknowledges that there is an enemy (here called “the theif”) and that his sole purpose is to make a mess of everything. This is, as far as I am concerned, the closest thing I have ever found to answer to the question, “why do bad things happen?”

Simply because the theif comes to kill and to steal and to destroy. 

That would sound like a fairly dark and pessimistic statement from Jesus, but he immediately contrasts the theif’s purpose with his own purpose – to give life and give it abundantly. 

As we journey through Lent may you know what it is to have life in abundance. May you draw close to the One who came that you might have life and have it abundantly. 



For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. ‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭18-21‬ NLT

One of the things I love about God is that he always makes it personal. Salvation isn’t just salvation. It’s MY salvation. It’s YOUR salvation. 

God’s plan to save  humanity isn’t some financial formula or theoretical idea. It’s blood and sacrifice. And not just anyone’s blood, not just anyone’s sacrifice. It’s his own son’s blood. It is his own son’s sacrifice. 

It’s painful and it’s intimate. It strikes at God’s own heart. 

I love that Andrew Peterson sings, “isn’t it love, to look down from the sky, to see your only son on the cross asking ‘why?,’ and somehow let him die that way and not call the whole thing off?” (Isn’t it Love, LIVE)

So…why didn’t God call the whole thing off? Because of love. Because of a deeply felt, personal love for you and for me and for everyone who has lived and who will live. 

Because you matter and because I matter, personally, to God. Enough that the pain of Jesus’ death was a worthwhile price to pay. 

Sometimes, that completely overwhelms me. I literally lose my ability to speak or write articulately about it. I, who communicates for a living, am left with no words. Just the slow drop of tears and a profound gratitude. Tonight is one of those nights. 

So, thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. 

For making it personal. 

 



I have a hearing problem. Always have had. I was born with it – an abnormal hearing pattern that is just within the bounds of the “normal” spectrum. 

Most days this doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just part of who I am. Part of the way God made me. But every once in a while (usually when I am over-tired or there is an abundance of “distraction” noise around), I feel my hearing problem acutely. Trust me, after the third or fourth time, “I still didn’t hear that,” stops being cute and just becomes irritating. 

I know it could be worse – as a kid I feared losing my hearing entirely, especially since ear infections were an incredibly frequent occurrence  for me – but I also know what it is to struggle to hear things that others hear easily. I know what it is to have to “bend close” to clearly hear someone speak. 

Because of this, a verse like this is dear to my heart. I love that God “bends close” to hear our prayers. God doesn’t bend close becase he has a hearing problem, he bends close because he cares. Because it is important to him to hear our prayers. Because we are his precious children – each and everyone of the billions of us on this planet – and he CARES to hear what we have to say to him. 

The Psalmist says because of this – because God bends close – he will pray as long as he has breath. Because God’s desire to hear the Psalmist’s prayers makes the Psalmist want to keep talking to God. That’s the way of relationship. 

This Lent, as we journey toward the cross, may you know that God’s ear is bent close to catch even your smallest prayer. May that sense of God’s attentiveness spur you on to pray more often. And may you find your relationship with God growing stronger because of it. 

Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!
Psalms‬ ‭116‬:‭2‬ NLT

…than never,” the old saying goes. 

I had every hope an intention of beginning a Lenten journey on this blog last Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent. But when I got home after the day’s responsibilities, I was suddenly and violently struck by a stomach bug. I’m only now feeling like I am truly back on my feet. 

So despite my best intentions, my blogging journey through Lent begins now. Because life got in the way. Which happens sometimes.  None of us knows what tomorrow holds. The unexpected comes…unexpectedly. 🙂 Our plans and our hopes get derailed or redirected or preempted.

What I am learning as I continue to journey in faith is that derailments are only a problem if you allow yourself to remain derailed. The other old saying is true: you gotta get back on the horse. It’s easy enough to do that when it comes to something like this blog: I simply have to make and take the time to write it. And then, tomorrow, I must make and take the time again. And each day after that. Simple enough, right?

But what about something more difficult than writing a blog regularly? What about someone whose faith has been derailed by grief? What about someone whose life has lead them into a state of despair? What if it’s not as simple as making and taking the time each day?

I like this advice, from the Scriptures:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ NLT

There is something about focusing our minds on good things. I’m not saying it is simple, and I am not saying this fixes everything. But when we begin to regularly fix our minds on what is true, honorable, right, lovely, pure, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise – our focus shifts. The way we see things changes. And when the way we see things changes, so will our experience of life, even if we are waking through a season of very difficult things. 

Lent is sometimes a difficult season – a time of recognizing our sin and our need for reconciliation with God. A time for preparing to celebrate the freedom we find anew each Easter with the declaration that “He is Risen!” This Lent, let’s think about what is true, honorable, right, lovely, pure, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise (hint: Jesus is all of those things!), and see how our experience changes.  



My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭27-28‬ NLT

So it is 3:46am and I’ve been awake for a while now. I took melatonin, I did the things you are supposed to do to fend off jet lag, and still it got me.

That’s ok. It will take a few days to adjust, but I’ll be back to normal soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d use the extra “awake” hours to blog.

If you’ve been following me during the trip to Israel, you already know what a wonderful time we had. Our experiences exceeded every hope and expectation I had.

I knew that our group of pilgrims felt the same, but when several of them got up in church yesterday to share their “aha” moments, I was blown away. Many were moved to tears as they spoke (Regan ended her (beautiful!) words by gesturing at her heart, shaking her head and walking away from the microphone as she had lost the ability to keep speaking). The variety of things that people singled out as “aha” moments was great to hear.

It reminded me that the voice of God comes to us all in different ways. Some hear Him through the words of a friend or loved one, some here Him through the beauty of nature, some hear Him through the written word, some hear Him in song. Some hear Him in all of these ways and more.

The fact is that we all encounter God’s voice on different ways. And God – in his infinite generosity – provides a multitude of different messages in different mediums so that each of us can hear him in our own “language.”

May your heart/soul/mind always be open to the voice/sight/sound/touch of God. May you embrace the way He has made you to hear Him speak. May you hunger to follow Him always.

I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭8‬ NLT

Today was our free day in the city of Jerusalem. My dear friend Luke and I spent the day together. Sometimes we were with others from the tour group, and sometimes we were on our own. We shopped, ate and laughed our way through the Old City. Here are a few highlights.

We started the day dropping in on St. Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church with Regan and Geoff. Geoff introduced us at reception and we were told that the minister was present and would love to meet us. So we spent some time having a visit with their recently called minister, the Rev. Páraic Réamonn. He originates from Ireland, but spent a couple of decades in Switzerland before coming to Jerusalem. After a lovely chat, we headed upstairs to have a look at the sanctuary. Pictures were taken in the pulpit and among the pews.

By the time we left, we were significantly late to meet my folks’ and their good friends the Browns at the Jaffa Gate. So we walked there as fast as we possibly could. Once we arrived, we couldn’t see my parents anywhere. Geoff and Regan went one direction to try to find them and Luke and I went another.

While I was looking around on the street, a gentleman came up to me and said, “You are Canadian, yes? You are looking for your people? Four people? You are supposed to have others with you.” I was a little taken aback and I said, “um, yes, how did you know?” He said, “Your mother, she is this way. She showed me your picture.” (I was asking myself, “Is this even happening right now?!”) He continued, “You find your friends, then I show you where your mother is. First, you look at my father’s shop. It doesn’t cost you to look.” So sure enough, I found Luke and explained what was going on, we went into the gentleman’s shop, and then he brought us along to where my parents and the Browns were browsing in Vic’s Armenian Pottery shop.

We spent a couple of hours browsing and shopping with the folks’. Then we split up again. Luke and I wandered, got totally lost (Mom had taken the excellent map Geoff gave us), got caught up in a tide of muslim’s heading home from worship at the Dome of the Rock, and left the Old City through the Damascus Gate. We walked outside the Old City until we arrived at the New Gate. This put us in the Christian Quarter. We shopped for a bit there, too.

After deciding we were tired, we headed back to our hotel. In order to reach the Dan Boutique, we had to walk through the renovated train station (which is now a restaurants and shopping area). Who should we bump into while we were there? My parents and the Browns, of course. We sat and enjoyed lemonade while chatting about our experiences during the day.

In some ways today was the opposite of what most of the tour has been. Today was not focussed on the spiritual. At the same time, in Jerusalem, the spiritual is never far away. The day started with a visit to a church, the place we ate lunch at was beside the 5th station of the cross on the Via Dolorosa, the Muslims thronged the Old City streets as they returned from their worship.

That’s the way it should be – even as we go about “ordinary life” the extraordinary love of God should always be right beside beside us. May it be in your life, as I find it to be in Jerusalem – the presence of God, close enough to touch.

Geoff and I with the Rev. Páraic Réamonn, minister of St. Andrew’s, Jerusalem.

Standing in the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s, Jerusalem.

Luke, Rosemarie Brown and Norm Brown, enjoying refreshments in the Old City.

Dad, Mom and Norm, trying to figure out where we were in the Old City. That’s the excellent map that Mom never did give back to Luke and I.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭9-10‬ NIV

Today we saw the Scale Model of the ancient city of Jerusalem, visited the Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea scrolls), walked the Palm Sunday path to Gethsemane, paid a visit to Petrus Galicantu (Caiaphas’ house, where Jesus was imprisoned before the crucifixion), walked the Via Dolorosa (re way of sorrows, along which Jesus walked, carrying the cross on Good Friday) and ended the day at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

One of the things I love about the theologically significant places we have visited is the way that Christians leave their marks in these places. Wherever we have gone, we have seen crosses carved into stone, candles lit, and prayers written out.

At the church of the Holy Sepulcher we saw how Christians had pounded nails into the door. I love this need of people of faith to leave their mark on the site as Christ has left His mark on us.

The point of everything Geoff and I do at St. Andrews is life-change. That people would experience the overwhelming love of God in a way that makes them think, feel, and LIVE differently.

My prayer is that in Christ, God is leaving his mark on you and that because of his mark on you, you will leave your mark on the world.