I grew up on a farm where days, weeks and months marched to the beat of Time. Time to plant. Time to hoe, Time to harvest. Time to drink sweet tea on the front porch. According to the Bible, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV).  The days of the week drummed a steady beat – wash on Mondays, iron on Tuesdays, clean on Saturdays. My sister Marie and I argued over who would vacuum and who would dust. As a child, Time wore a frilly dress and sat in our meadow looping daisy chains. Arbellis, my imaginary friend, and I spent long ..read more

Last month we talked about the first four critical times of blessing in a child’s life.  Each of those times of blessing answers the identity question ‘Who Am I’.  Blessing at conception answers the identity question, “Am I welcome in this world?” Blessing in the womb answers the question, “Is there a safe place for me?” The third critical time of blessing is at birth, and it answers the question, “Will my needs be met in this world?” Blessing at early childhood answers the question, “Who can I trust in the world?” Just as Jesus was provid ..read more

I’ve been thinking about how that phrase applies to an unexpected pregnancy. After working in the area of unexpected pregnancy support for almost 15 years, I have a few thoughts. In 2024, “sanctity” is a word that people don’t commonly use. That doesn’t mean it’s not relevant, far from it. As someone who works in communication, I believe it’s important to use words that people are familiar with and understand or clearly define a word if your audience might not understand it. With that in mind, I believe defining what sanctity means is important. Sanctity comes from the Latin word “sanctus,” wh ..read more

Building Strong Families in Canada In an era where the very definition of family is undergoing profound transformation, the traditional family structure, as we have known it in Canada, finds itself under scrutiny and redefinition. As debates rage on about what constitutes a family, it becomes increasingly evident that the strength of a nation is tied to the strength of its families. A survey done several years ago found that everyone wants to have a strong marriage and their children to turn out ok. In our travels we found that the tiny nation of Singapore has the motto “Strong families build ..read more

The dramatic events of the original Passover had life and death significance for the generation that God rescued from Egypt. They are also tremendously powerful for us today.  This original Passover pointed forward to another momentous Passover in Jerusalem that would take place 1,500 years later in the life of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. During Passover, we remember how God visited Israel in Egypt and delivered them from slavery.  God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush and sent him back to Egypt to bring the Israelites out.  Pharoah would not listen, so God sent ten p ..read more

One of the most basic human needs is a home. A home is the place where you eat, drink, interact, socialize, and sleep. It is a place for relationship building and growth. A home satisfies our need for safety, security, belonging and connectedness. Women facing an unintended pregnancy need a place to call home.  The Crisis Pregnancy Centres (CPC) of Vancouver and Burnaby have served many women this past year who were either homeless, in a shelter, or in unstable housing situations. Their primary need for bringing a baby into a safe and healthy environment is appropriate housing solutions ..read more

Many of us are grateful that COVID regulations, mandates, and lockdowns have largely been eliminated or lessened. In the past two difficult years, it was easy to slip into harsh judgementalism towards those who had different ways of navigating this strange pandemic.  Even local churches have had to fight against the temptation to judgemental divisiveness over one’s vaccine status. We know of families who are still not speaking because they intensely disagreed on this issue. What might happen if we stopped judging each other on this difficult topic? Perhaps the best known and most misunder ..read more

Last Christmas, I was alone with Jesus.  I celebrated the day of His birth with Him. And Jesus was enough. Since my family were away and I chose not to travel, I had intended to share Christmas dinner with a friend and her husband and daughter. Unfortunately, her husband became ill and my friend had to cancel. I know she felt badly and if I had wanted to, I probably could have called up another friend and wangled an invitation. Instead, I decided to plan to spend a joyful day on my own.  My approach to being alone for Christmas Day was very important. I spent time being thankful to G ..read more

One thing I’ve learned in life is that when you’re listening to someone tell a story of some injustice, or hardship, there are always two sides to every story. As I was growing up, my adopted family treated me like one of their own, I always felt accepted and loved as I was growing up. Every once in a while, somebody would look at me different, or treat me different when they’d discover I was Indigenous. But all in all, I always felt like I belonged. Sometimes it wasn’t until years later that I discovered someone looked down on me because of being Indigenous. In those situations, I was glad I ..read more

As Pokay Say looked into the face of her newborn baby, she was filled with joy. Ayla would be her 13th child. Pokay was 45 years old when she conceived, and the doctor was concerned there might be complications. Pokay was advised that the pregnancy should be terminated. But she vowed that she would have this child and raise it no matter what. Now looking into her baby’s sleeping face, she knew that everything she had endured was worth it. “There was never a question that I would give up on her,” said Pokay.  Pokay was born on a farm in Burma, one of six siblings who, with their parents ra ..read more