Tracy's Blog

Daily for the last two months, we've heard the honking of Canadian Geese overhead. Our home is definitely on a migratory flight path! One day in early September as I was watching the geese fly past, I noticed something interesting. A flock of geese were travelling by honking away as usual but off in the distance was a lone goose. What it looked like to me was that this goose was desparately trying to catch up with the flock. I couldn't help but interpret its honks as a call: "Wait for me! I'm coming! I don't want to be alone on this strenuous flight south!" This got me thinking about Christian community and how important it is for us to not be trying to make the challenging journey of living out our faith in Christ alone. Just as flying in the V formation enables each goose to expend less energy, so joining together with other Christians gives us strength and endurance for the journey of faith. We are not alone. We have others around us to bear our burdens. We...

I recently read the book You Can Trust the Bible: Our Foundation for Belief and Obedience by John R. W. Stott ( copyright 1982 Discovery House Publishers edition 1991) and I thought I would pass onto you a framework for Bible reading that could be helpful. Stott says: "... all the teaching of the Bible can be divided into these three catagories, requiring these three responses" (page 81) 1. revelations of God- the response is worship 2. promises of salvation - the response is trust 3. commandments - the response is obedience To apply this to the passage you are reading, ask yourself the following questions. What does this passage teach me about God: Father, Son, and Spirit? What promises does this passage state? What commands are given in this passage that I am to obey? Sample application for what you discover could be: Worship: I worship you Lord for.....(list the aspects of God that He has revealed to you from the text). Trust: I acknowledge Your Word promises that..(list ...

I hope you all had a meaningful Thanksgiving. We did as we enjoyed turkey and time with our family in Dauphin. It was there that my idea for this next blog came. At the church we attended on Sunday morning, the pastor spoke on a familiar passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19. That's not surprising for a Thanksgiving sermon. But what struck me as I was listening to the sermon was how MUCH we, as Christians, are to talk!!! Now talking too much has always been an issue for me. I remember back in elementary school that it was the only thing I got in trouble for. Although I was a good student, inevitably, every year, I would get moved from the spot I chose to sit (next to all my friends) to a spot that was entirely surrounded by boys. It was the teacher's hope that I would be quieted by having no one to talk to around me except boys. Whether it was that she thought they talked less and therefore would interact with me less or that I wouldn't talk with them because I didn't have m...

The Thanksgiving weekend is quickly approaching and with it comes turkey, stuffing, and often too much pumpkin pie. We can end up wondering "what was that all about?" and go back to work on Tuesday morning feeling full in our stomachs but empty in our hearts. I hope this won't be the case for you and I. Personally, I think it is amazing that we have a holiday set aside to give thanks. "Give thanks" is a command of God and here we have the government ensuring that we have time to do it! This year, I was thinking of celebrating Thanksgiving in a new way..... to give thanks for things I wasn't thankful for last year at this time but now I am. I see Thanksgiving as an opportunity to look at God's work in my life and to see how my perspective has changed. What am I going to give thanks for? The transformative potential of trials. I've know James 1:2-4 for years but I think I only came to want to obey it in the past year. "Consider it put joy, my brot...