A quest for COMMON SENSE and ANCIENT WISDOM! Welcome to a Safe Place for the suffering and those sincerely searching for Light in the shadow-lands. May you find inspiration for the journey!
Perhaps it was the cumulative years of writing Advent sermons, gradually building up such a vivid sense of anticipation, that a creative outlet of joyous expression was bound to happen despite the tremendous adversity that lay ahead in my journey... Apparently, you can count on the biased CBC to mock Christmas. But the comic rant decrying those auto-generated carol playlists does have a point. Malls + holiday songs do not equal cheer. Rather, for me, they stir a rising cynicism like the 4 progressive stages of hypertension! The antidote is a necessary exercise of deeper reflection in response to the frenetic consumerism and the tinney holiday trappings of secularist attempts to replace Christ, the very reason for my joy in celebrating this season. I do love Christmas. This is the season for imagining what is possible, for dreaming new dreams, for hoping beyond hope. But someone observed that it is also the season when hope can be hardest to find, dreams hardest to believe. ...
My name is Joy. People often say that I live up to it, although life has sobered me some and, unfortunately, I probably laugh less and carry more burdens than I used to. I’m the wife of a pastor, and the daughter of missionaries. My husband and I met in Bible College, married, went to Regent College to do masters studies, and then right into full time ministry. We took over a church plant and ministered there for almost nine years. During that time we were very busy raising our five children, two of whom have cleft lip and palate as well as Autism. They’re all precious gifts that circle us with love. Over three long years ago my husband, Ken, started feeling very tired and experienced aching muscles and cramps. He carried on pastoring but would take days to recover after each Sunday. As doctors tried to determine what was wrong with him, we went through one of the worst phases of a long-term illness — not having validation. It wasn’t until February of 2005 that we received the diag...
A Deeper “Why?” by Ken Kutney IF OUR STORY HELPS ONE PERSON, WE ARE HAPPY. Still acting like newlyweds when they moved west, Terry and Julia Ruegg settled into the quaint, historic fishing village of Steveston in B.C. We met at a summer church service on the beach. They eagerly engaged in the community life of our church, emphasizing authenticity, especially in the enrichment of married couples. As for their own marriage, after seven years it seemed that Terry and Julia were unable to have children. But as Terry recalls, “We were OK with that and ready to go on with life—just the two of us.” Ken: I recall how delighted we all were when the surprise came. Terry: When we found out we were pregnant, we were shocked and scared. Good thing we had nine months to adjust! We became very excited about becoming parents. Baby Melissa was born on Valentine’s Day, stealing our hearts the instant we laid eyes on her screaming little form. K: The long delivery took a toll on all of you. ...
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