As the days grow shorter and our schedules grow busier, it can be hard to find the motivation to do the important things. Instead we rush around to events, doing Christmas shopping and the other activities that consume our precious time. And we wonder why we may seem unhappy or exhausted. We push aside our bodies and our spiritual needs in an effort to get things done. This month I am trying to balance my activities
I love hiking. Especially this time of year. There is nothing more beautiful than the fall colours illuminated in shimmering sunlight, and there is nothing more refreshing than the crisp air. Autumn is the season of hiking. A couple of weeks ago a friend and I drove out to Albion Falls to hike. Neither of us are from Hamilton, but we’ve heard it has some of the best trails in Southern Ontario, so we’ve made
We moved into our 1973 side-split home eight years ago. We prayed throughout the whole buying process, knowing that God knew best where to plant us. Of course, we were starry-eyed with certain characteristics: the quiet cul-de-sac, the proximity to greenspace, schools for the future. But while the external features were shaping our choice, God could see the people and the brokenness, pain or joy found in each home in our neighbourhood. He could see our desire to
Three months ago, I gave birth to a little baby boy named Levin. His arrival threw my world into a blender; my regular habits of sleeping, working, and socializing were all shook up. As such, the FV blog had a bit of a hiatus this summer. But don’t fret, I’ve gotten used to a new normal and am getting the blog back in business. You can expect regular posts from here on in. I know
September comes so quickly every year. It seems that no sooner do we kick back, relax, and enjoy the sunshine (or what little we had this year); we are bombarded with back to school ads and pumpkin spice lattes. Gone are the carefree days of camp and cottages, it’s back to routine, packing lunches and the general busyness that comes with this new season. I don’t know where you’re coming from. Maybe your summer was
I asked Matt Stone to write an entry for this blog in November last year, just a few days before his lung collapsed for the first time. I imagined that writing might be a good avenue for his usually-quiet self to share about his past experience with illness and suffering, and his relationship with God along the way. I thought we’d all be blessed to hear some of his insight. Of course, I let him
After my second child was born and we took the plunge into buying our first home, I began to look into part-time work. Being trained as a teacher, I initially started looking for teaching work. I had an interview that was not successful, and what I was realizing more and more was that my heart really wasn’t in it. My husband and I were serving once again at a Christian camp in the summer and
“A person who is lonely should dig into a community, give himself to a community, humble himself before his friends, initiate community, teach people to care for each other and love each other.” – Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz Community is a word that gets tossed around a lot in church circles today, it seems to me. We are called to “live in community,” and “do life together.” Forestview has co-opted the word community to
This year for the season of Lent, I have taken on a spiritual discipline that Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity call “Adoration.” It basically means taking one hour out of every day to spend time in the presence of God. When I volunteered with the Sisters of Charity in Kolkata, India last year, I practiced Adoration alongside the Sisters each day at 5pm. The practice refreshed me, and brought me into a closer walk with
Last Friday evening, my husband Mark had left for a youth retreat, Esther (our youngest) was in bed, and I was sitting on the couch with our two older daughters counting down the minutes till their bedtime so I could finally relax. Then, to my surprise, my in-laws arrived at the door. My mother-in-law apologized for being late, while I looked at her in utter confusion. Why on earth are my in-laws here? They don’t
