Tracy's Blog

Today is an unusual day for me.  I am preparing for a memorial event for a friend whose baby died before birth at 36 weeks.  I am thinking about children and the gift that they are.  No matter how long they live or how challenged we may be by them, Scripture tells us:  Children are a gift from the LORD (Psalm 127:3a). Children are also on my mind as I start to prepare for the work I do at my church in overseeing two of the Sunday morning Children & Worship classes.  There are so many details to take care of but it is worth it because they are worth it!  It is a privilege to be a part of helping children understand God's love and forgiveness offered to us through Jesus. In July, I had a wonderful time leading the Bible Discovery Station at a VBS in Selkirk.  I loved the opportunity to: - tell a 5 year old boy who Jesus is.  He had no idea.  He didn't know Christmas was Jesus' birthday. - encourage a pre-teen girl to start to look in...

Who are these people?  Well, they are two little guys that were made by Tim's group in Vacation Bible School this week.  The theme this year is "Maker Fun Factory: Created by God, Built for a Purpose" and each group had 3 minutes to create a person out of random craft supplies.  I like them because they are unique (even though all groups had the same supplies) and simple.  There is something humble about them and that is a virtue I am purposely trying to seek out right now. Humility hasn't always been on my radar.  As a child I don't think I even knew the definition of the word.  Maybe I would have said, "not proud".  Once I began to seek God more wholeheartedly as a young adult, I was confronted with these words of Scripture: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6) Well, I knew where I wanted to be in relation to God - a receiver of grace so I humility became a goal.  But I can't say that I was drawn to...

How do you take correction?  This has been a struggle for me in my life and I know why.  Pride.  My pride doesn't want to be wrong.  My pride wants to the be the one with the right answers and who does things the right way.  Humility, on the other hand, says, "Thank you for showing me my error."  "Thank you for teaching me what is right."  "Thank you for leading me into truth."  I don't remember exactly when in my adult life I became aware of how deep my hatred of correction was but it was one of those sort of shocking discoveries.  And a very important one. Today I am writing about correction because I had an interesting experience while reading the Bible the other day.  Here is what happened.  A devotional book I am using directed me to Matthew 10:1-10.  Included in it is the list of disciples that Jesus sent out. Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Phili...

I have a confession to make.  Actually I have two and they fit under the two different categories of confessions in the Bible: a confession of sin and a confession of faith I love that a confession can be either of those things and they go so well together.  A confession is essentially a profession or acknowledgement of something.  Confessing is the act of making this profession or acknowledgement.  It is saying something .  Something that really matters. So when we confess our sin, we are admitting to it, acknowledging that what we said, thought, or did was against God's right ways.  When we confess our faith, we are stating what we believe about God. Two famous verses that go along with the two types of confessions are: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9 KJV - the way I first memorized it) "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and b...

Last Thursday I met with the Youth For Christ Selkirk Director and his wife for prayer.  This is something I do regularly as a way to be involved in the ministry.  (To learn about it check out yfcselkirk.ca ).  As we talked about the youth, I became heavy-hearted.  They face such tremendous challenges such as poverty and mental health struggles.  They also tend to make decision that are based on instant gratification instead of long-term wellness which can get them into more trouble.  So while I was happy that I had taken time to pray and I do believe God is at work in their lives, I drove away from the prayer meeting feeling sorrow.  As the grief settled in, I had an interesting thought, "It's a gift".  Grief is a gift.  What!? Why? How? I learned a long time ago that grief means that something significant is missing or has been taken away.  I can keenly remember being on a plane flying to Ontario in my early twenties and thinking, "I...

I'm back.  I know it has been awhile.  But I'm here now.  Happy to be connecting with you again. Last week I was meeting with my spiritual director and I was sharing with her that I think my definition of love has been changing and I hope that is it aligning more with God's love.  We were talking specifically about love's ability to endure tension.  My nature disposition is to avoid internal tension.  I don't like when things feel unfinished or I feel unprepared.  I don't like conflict - internal or external.  Uncertainty stirs anxiety in me.  Chaos and imperfections can cause irritability.  I think you get the picture of what I am like without God's power working in me! But what I've come to realize is that God can handle a lot of tension.  There is so much that is "not yet" about this world, the church, me and yet God loves us all!  He is for us.  He is with us.  He is gracious and merciful towards us.  Thi...

Today I am thinking about dandelions. There are many of them on our lawn.  They appeared overnight a few days ago and then became puff balls so quickly.  I sometimes wonder if I stayed still long enough if I would be able to see them grow and change!  I know that dandelions are a weed but I am inspired by them.  I've always been a pursuer of change - desiring to see a definite difference in circumstances and characters.  Now the trouble I run into is that I want the change to be instantaneous.... or at least as quickly as a dandelion grows... but this isn't how transformation happens in our spiritual lives or in our souls. How does it happen?  Here are some phrases that come to mind: - enduring suffering - patient waiting - wise (but sometimes hard) decisions - counting the cost - putting off the old self - setting the mind on the Spirit - taking steps of faith - living a life of love - facing fears - humility - resisting temptation - trusti...