Author Archives: XM

…And Be Thankful.

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful (Col. 3:14-15).  This morning a new friend explained to me, “We have to thank people. We cannot just thank God in our hearts or

My Morning Walk

Today I went for an early morning walk for about an hour and ended up in a temple area. I have read about it and seen movies or documentaries, but being here was completely different. I had no idea whole communities made gigantic statures about being dominated by a serpent. I have a dream of

Guardrails on the Path to Life

This week I got triggered. Six months ago my computer crashed. I was finally reinstalling the fund accounting software and updating my computer records from my paper reports. I could not find the password for the specialized software I’ve used for almost ten years. I called the company, and rather than help me, it felt like

The Road Less Taken?

My Dream This week I had a dream. Deanna and I were on a long road trip. Somewhere along the way, we were stopped temporarily for construction. When we got going again, we came to a fork in the road. While most of the traffic went one way, our GPS clearly indicated our route was

Happy Mother’s Day

The season of time surrounding when Mom crossed over to the other side was perfect last year. We are so grateful to God and to everyone who made it possible for us to come back to Canada to live with her for those last weeks in Garden Park. Sometimes over the years, Mom would ask

The Dolans in Belem

The city of Belem was blessed earlier this year when Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa moved there. The Dolans relocated from Altamira to our state capitol city, located on an island where the Amazon River flows into the ocean. Steve, Elba, Deanna, Nira, Rick, Alyssa, Camilly, Tim, Bella – Our friendship with the Dolans dates

Cristovão in Jacamin

“You can count the apples in a tree, but you cannot count the trees in an apple.” We do not know, at these events, who will become the influential Christian sevant-leaders. Powered by WPeMatico

What is Helpful?

Sometimes our desire to protect the people we love doesn’t turn out as we hoped. I see many marital, parental, and pastoral power struggles and wonder about the best way forward. Reflecting on my experiences, assuming a power-over solution to other adults and the opposite behavior avoidance are often unhelpful. Engaging in awkward conversations with

Fusion

Until I was 14 years old, I was extremely sensitive to my parent’s feelings; both parents, but Mom was more prevalent. Until I was 14, my dad worked paving many of the highways in Northern BC. He would come home for Christmas, and Mom would take us kids North to live in hotels during our

Favorite Photos This Week

Here is a house we pass on our daily walk through our neighborhood. A massive iguana enjoys the view from the peak of our roof. We have the netting there to discourage bats from flying into our house. This region is thick with bats. The government kindly paved the road in front of our church