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...

In Philippians 2:1, the Apostle Paul lists several things that believers in Christ have in Christ - encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, tenderness, compassion. The phrase "comfort from his love" caught my attention so I started to think about what is this love? this comfort? It's the love of God the Father who determined that it was good to create you. Love that wanted you in this world. Love that is gracious and compassionate toward you. Love that is demonstrated by the Father sending His Son (John 3:16). It is the love of the Son, Jesus Christ, who "while we were still sinners" laid down His life to die for us. Love of Jesus that empowered Him to serve when He is the One who is worthy of being served by all. It's the fruitful and productive love of the Holy Spirit that is powerful and creative. Love that transforms and renews. It is love that covers a multitude of sins; love that never fails;...

I have a confession to make. Sunday afternoon is one of my worst times in the week. I get grouchy and irritable. It usually starts once I get out of the car from church (although it may even start on the way home) and ends around 4 pm (that seems to be the time that I go for a walk). This has been going on fairly consistently for almost 20 years. So, one Sunday, with great patience and wisdom, Clint suggested that I write a prayer to move me through the transistion of leaving church to coming back home and then to blog it. I'm finally acting on that. Here is what I've come up with: O Lord, I want to stay in Your presence with Your people, simply being who I truly am. No pressure, no "to-do" lists. Loving and worshipping You, receiving Your love and grace. But I don't know how to do that when I get out of this car - back into the busy, complicated, messiness of my life. Please be with me as I go. Help me to continue to worship and love You on this Lord's Day. G...

Do you ever feel like there isn't enough time in your day to do all the things you want? I sure do. Part of my problem is that I think I need to spend a certain amount of time on certain activities: excercise: 30 minutes, time with God: 30 minutes, phone call to a friend: 30 minutes, reading: 30 minutes. You get the idea. When I add it all up, there just isn't enough time to do it all so I often don't do any of it. Recently I had an encouraging thought: do I have 5 minutes? Yes, I do. Isn't it worth spending some time (even only 5 minutes) on these activities if they are important to me? I think so. When it comes to time with God, what can happen in 5 minutes? Here are some of my experiences: Reading a passage of Scripture (for example: Psalm 62 takes only 30 seconds to read) and then answering the question: what does this passage teach me about God? From Psalm 62: My soul finds rest in Him; my salvation comes from Him; He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress...