My grandchildren when they send me any text messages, they often have emojis in their content. Some I recognize, others I have to ask what they mean. Back in the early church days when a Christian wanted to talk to another Christian secretly (for fear of to being killed or arrested) but also was unsure if they were actually talking to another Christian, they would start drawing part of the fish picture. If the other person completed the drawing – they were safe.  Or carefully they made the sign of the cross to see if someone would reply with the sign of the cross.  The sign of the cross was used by…

Willow, my 8-year-old granddaughter, asked her Mum, “When can I have my Daddy date?” This is a date with her Dad. She comes from a family of six. Mum, Dad and 4 daughters. From a very young age, as the family grew in number, they decided the girls individually would have a play date with their Dad. The girls love them. Melissa, her Mum, replied, “Well you need to decide first what you want to do?” “Well, I’ve thought of 2 options. I could go to Mini Golf at Archie Brothers and then go to the Sushi train or if you don’t want to spend any money, we could watch…

I remember there was a boy at school that would love to play tricks on people but sometimes he went too far or he did it so often that it was not a joke anymore. It hurt. I was not one of his targets, but I saw how “his jokes” affected people and often thought that a joke must be truly funny and not at the expense of someone’s feelings. Maybe that’s why when I listen to comedians I stop listening if they “are not funny.” In Proverbs it says: Anyone who would trick someone and then say, “I was only joking” is like a fool who shoots flaming arrows…

When unexpected things happen in your life it is so comforting and good to know that God cares for you and knew what was going to happen. I have a small procedure booked in with my doctor and I cannot drive for 24 hours. The day before Bruce got a phone call from an eye specialist, that he has been waiting to see, to tell him that Bruce could be seen that afternoon. I then received a phone call a few hours later from Bruce to say that the eye specialist was going to operate on his eyelid right then and there. Oh, so unexpected. He would not be able…

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,    and give thanks to his holy name.For his anger is but for a moment;    his favor is for a lifetime.Weeping may linger for the night,    but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:4-5 NRSV Oh, how wonderful it is to sing gratitude to our God. His favor is truly for a lifetime and if he is angry then we, his people, have pushed Him to be. But as it states here in verse 5 his anger is but for a moment. This reminds me of my Mum. She was always kind, caring, giving but if angry, we her children, pushed her too far. We…