Tracy's Blog

Well, I'm happy to report that I am feeling much better.  I'm sure some of you prayed for me after my blog entry last week.  Thank-you.  Prayer is very powerful and such an important part of walking with God.  But we often struggle with prayer. We don't know what to ask for or we are confused about God's lack of response.  I've heard it said that God always answers our prayers but His answer may be not what we expect. The gospel reading from last Sunday, Luke 8:26-39 , shows Jesus answering requests in surprising ways. 1. "Yes":  Jesus says "yes" to the requests of demons verse 32: "The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission" 2. "Yes": Jesus listens to the request of the people who have seen His great power and are afraid so they want Him to get away from them. verse 37:    " Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were ov...

This past January, I thought I'd try the Ann Voskamp thing and keep track of things I'm thankful for by listing them in my journal by number. Today I hit the number 1000. What an interesting day to do it! I'm sick...I think it is a sinus infection but it may be becoming an ear infection. I'm somewhat overwhelmed by all the tasks I have before me with a trip to Alberta coming up June 29 th and a move to Selkirk July 25 th . (It's a downsizing move so that means there is stuff to get rid of, not just stuff to pack.) And I think I'm going through the “end of school blues”..... even though I'm not the student! Oh yeah... and I have 4 things to bake or make food for in the next 48 hours! Okay, okay. Enough grumbling. Maybe you can relate?!?   In many ways, it is a great day to reach the “goal” of 1000 gifts that I have given thanks for as it reminds me that giving thanks is a day by day, moment by moment thing. God is here right now. He is gi...

Have you ever heard of a man named Aeneas in Acts? I was reading through Acts 9 and realized that I was unfamiliar with this name. Now, it is kind of understandable that we may not be familiar with him as the story of Aeneas' healing is squeezed between two very well know Bible stories: the conversion of Saul and the resurrection of Dorcas. So here it is. Acts 9:32-34 ESV Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight year, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.   Healing has been on my mind a fair bit recently because of several things: Timmy's sicknesses over the last 6 weeks; my current head cold; the Gospel passages of the past two Sunday lectionary readings ( Luke 7:1-10 and 11-17 )...

The last two weeks have been challenging with Timmy having a serious ear infection and our internet being down for 3 days. That's why there was no blog last week. Thankfully Timmy is now feeling better and we are back on-line! During Timmy's illness, I had an experience that spoke to me about God's patience. It was last Tuesday morning and Timmy was refusing to take his medicine. Now, I will tell you that these antibiotics taste terrible so it is understandable why he would be resistant. I even added chocolate sauce to them to make them taste less horrible! We ended up in a situation where Timmy hid himself to try avoid the medicine.  He basically cornered himself in as there were two walls and the side of the bookshelf blocking him in. Once I found him, I sat down on the fourth side so he couldn't run away from me again. I had realized that forcing him to take him medicine wouldn't work as he would just spit it up or spill it by knocking my hand as I mov...