Lighthouse Keepers

Over the past year or so, God has been showing me  about the power of words and the importance of being real to yourself and others. Being able to accept hard times in life and being willing to be honest about them and using them to help your brothers and sisters in Christ, even if it makes you look a little less like you got it all together. None of us really does. We need each other. It started when our second baby was born.   I had a hard several months with him being gassy and being difficult to put to sleep.   I caught myself constantly being concerned that I might come off as not knowing what I was doing and always having to justify or make a defence for a struggle when asked.   I would say things like, “ya he’s gassy today,” but would be sure to add, “but he is not always like this, he is usually pretty good.”   I remember hearing myself one day and realized God was telling me it was ok to not be ok all the time.   Someone trie...

Are you anxious? Are you worried? Are you afraid?   We have so much to be anxious, worried and afraid about. Often our feet have not even hit the floor yet and we have something worrying us or we haven't even had your breakfast yet and we've already heard some bad news. Almost every single news outlet thrives on making sure we get the news, the terrible, the horrible, the no good, the very bad and depressing news. The news we hate to hear but we actually look for it, we listen for it, without even consciously knowing. Maybe it's because our focus is more on the negative events that are going on around us. It's almost like a habit.  Most people would agree that the media is too focussed on the bad news.  Sorry to be the one to tell you girls, but we look for it and they know it. Two men from a well-known university set up a "tracking the eye" experiment on the computers in the university la...

Joy! It has always been a favourite word of mine. Partly because it’s my middle name and I’ve made a collection over the years of quotes and anything really I can get my hands on that say Joy… including my daughter’s name “Joyanna”. But mostly because when you see and spend time with someone who is joyful it is like a breath of fresh air and you walk away feeling uplifted and encouraged. How does one get this joyfulness? Webster's defines it as “the source or cause of delight” So where does your source of delight ultimately come from? There are little simple gifts that make us smile, a warm cup of coffee on a cold morning, watching your child finally comprehend something you have been teaching them, a hug, a walk, time with a friend, a good book, a beautiful song. There are so many things that bring us satisfaction. But what about when you’re having a crummy day and you’ve warmed up your coffee 3 times already and it’s sitting cold again, nothing goes right, dinner burns, ...