“Police believe they found remains of 10-year-old girl.” “Game warden killed after traffic stop.” “Armed men burn down girls school.” Are you depressed yet? These headlines appeared recently on cnn.com. If we look again tomorrow, we will find several others just as depressing. Headlines like these keep some people from believing...

Over the next 20 years, an unprecedented number of Canadians will reach retirement age. In fact, by 2020, it is estimated that over 20% of the Canadian population will be 65 or older, and more than 425,000 people will be retiring annually.  Are you among them? Is the finish line of the rat race looming in the not-too distant horizon? If so, we have...

One of my favorite questions to ask my three year old daughter is, “Why are you special?” She enthusiastically replies, “Because God made me!” The best part is when she proceeds to tell me all the parts that He made while pointing to each one. “God made my elbows,” she says, as she proudly points them both at me. “He made my legs,”...

A few things have converged in my son Jack’s life over the past couple months. Back in the spring, he and I began reading Take Your Best Shot by then-nine-year-old author Austin Gutwein.  It is the story of a boy who decided he didn’t want to wait until he was all grown up to do something big for God. Jack decided he wanted to attend a Christian...

As a child, I never imagined that one day, I would suffer from chronic pain. I was an active kid, a teen who loved physical activity. I thought I would remain healthy forever, but sometimes, life takes a detour. A few months after the birth of my third child, my right side started trembling whenever I made the slightest move. Inexplicable weakness,...

Alone and discouraged, I sat staring at a computer screen. I was frustrated by the way my life had turned out. I’d worked hard to hold onto remnants of hope for my marriage, but each day that summer I could feel it slipping through my fingers.  I felt so alone.  God was still there, I knew, but there was a longing for people who would talk back....

Ever wondered where some of our popular expressions come from? Often an eloquent and original phrase which becomes part of common vernacular language finds its origins in literature. One of the most common sources for such phrases or idioms is the Bible. Having about 775,000 words, there is plenty of material there to mine for literary gems, and...