This weekend was a good one. I spent it in Guelph, Ontario, teaching at Write! Canada. I so enjoyed meeting others who share my desire to communicate life-changing words through writing and speaking. I trust that my classes and keynote presentation will equip and encourage them to pursue their dreams with passion and excellence. The… [ read more ]
Posts Tagged: courage
A Single, Life-Altering Thought
Canada celebrated the late Queen Victoria’s birthday last weekend. I celebrated, too, by turning off my computer and escaping for two days alone with my husband. It was so restful that I’d be tempted to do it again this weekend if I wasn’t speaking in Edmonton! While on this mini-retreat, I played Scrabble, reflected, and… [ read more ]
Turning Fear to Confidence
Yesterday our pastor spoke about overcoming fear. It’s an endless topic, it seems, with endless reasons to feel afraid. This week, farmers in Manitoba wait and watch as floodwaters approach and fill their fields. In the southern States, the Mississippi river rises and workers desperately try to avert a catastrophe that could exceed Hurricane Katrina…. [ read more ]
Gracious Uncertainty
Gideon must have thought God had lost all grip on reality. Imagine going to war with 300 soldiers and expecting to win. Ludicrous. But that’s exactly what God had told him to do—whittle down his army until only 300 men remained. And so he obeyed. (Judges 7) Call it ludricous, or call it gracious uncertainty…. [ read more ]
When God Says Go
When God gives a divine assignment, our human tendency is to say, “Who, me? I can’t do that.” Fear looms, and we offer excuses such as, “I’m not smart enough,” or “I don’t have the skills necessary.” Gideon’s story is a prime example. When God tells him to rescue Israel from the Midianites, he immediately… [ read more ]
My Reason for Confidence
When people hear about our overseas ministry travels, they sometimes ask us, “Aren’t you afraid?” They refer to our traveling in countries where we don’t understand the language, we (as obvious foreigners) must be alert to the risk of pickpockets in trains and train stations, and driving on narrow tree-lined highways where passing slower vehicles… [ read more ]
My Impossible Situation
It began in January 2007 with an early morning phone call. The caller was a close friend, one of our former pastors. “Do you still sense that God has something new for you in ministry?” he asked. “Yes,” my husband answered. (We’d sensed a change coming for two years already but had committed to waiting… [ read more ]
Tackle the Impossible
When we, as believers, sense God telling us to do something that seems impossible, what question should we ask in response? (a) Do we have the funds? (b) Do we have the know-how? (c) Do we have the manpower? (d) All of the above. (e) None of the above. The correct answer is…..(e) None of… [ read more ]
The Mind of a Champion
How many of you have ever waffled between feeling like a champion and a loser? I have. It happened again the other day. My publisher informed me that Moving From Fear to Freedom: A Woman’s Guide to Peace in Every Situation is going into another print run this month. They even put a new cover… [ read more ]
Keeping Our Eyes on God in Life’s Hard Places
In 1999, my dad suffered two severe strokes within a couple of weeks. The first caused him to fall from the ladder on which he was standing and resulted in a fractured skull and several broken ribs. I lived about 800 miles from him and my mom at that time. I remember the day… [ read more ]
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