When last I wrote, my dad was fighting for his life after a fall that left him with bleeding on the brain. Sadly, he lost that fight.
Untitled, a photo by Carmen CS on Flickr.
I will be restarting this blog slowly. Thanks for your patience!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Posts will be sporadic…
To my faithful readers,
My dad is fighting for his life after a fall which left him with bleeding on the brain.
I’m not sure how soon I will get back to regular posting. Thanks for your patience and any prayers.
Carmen
Seeking the Beloved on Christmas
I’ve been meaning to write a Christmas message for the blog and not getting it done. This morning I received this lovely gift from a dear friend and sister in Christ:
Starting to read, I came across this to share with you all:
“If prayer is fundamentally an expression of love— a single-hearted reaching out to the Other in a love relationship— it is more simple than any technique or way of praying. The most important thing in prayer is the heart’s inclination in relation to God.”
Simsic, Wayne (2012-03-28). Seeking the Beloved: A Prayer Journey with St. John of the Cross (Kindle Locations 119-121). The Word Among Us Press. Kindle Edition.
Praying for the inclination of all our hearts, and wishing you a blessed Christmas!
Carmen
Am I Straining at the Oars?
This is a great post about the importance of process in our lives and our faith..
Am I Straining at the Oars?
by Janis Cox
A few weeks ago I took a full week art course in Experimental Watercolour by Kal Honey at the Haliburton School of the Arts.
One of the quotes Kal posted was this:
Detach from outcome. Commit to process.
I kept thinking about that all week. I am a doer – I look for outcomes. So in my paintings I look to see a pleasant product.
But that week, Kal kept saying, “No, explore and see.”
I fought this. I fought this with every fibre of my being. I didn’t want to watch and explore, I wanted something beautiful right now.
Then I read Oswald Chambers from July 28.
It is the story of the storm in the Bible from Mark 6:45-52.
The disciples are straining at the oars. They have a goal. But their efforts are not producing…
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Favourite Movies – Amazing Grace
I first saw this movie last year, and it immediately shot to the top of my favourite movies list.
It’s about William Wilberforce, a Christian who was central to getting slavery outlawed throughout the British empire. I knew almost nothing about him before seeing the movie. Before our Civil War, he fought for human rights.
The movie is an amazing historical drama. It’s beautiful, and inspiring. Wilberforce suffered from chronic illness, and struggled with an addiction to painkillers given to him because of it. But he did not succumb to discouragement. He was an amazing fighter.
The movie has joy, humor, trouble and triumph. It highlights love, faith, seeking one’s way and then sticking to it once it has been found.
Favourite Movies – Love Comes Softly
This is a very sweet movie about finding life and love again after tragedy. It’s also about an atheist finding faith from the example of a man of great faith. It’s not an incredibly deep movie, but it is comforting.
My favourite line from the movie is the one which gives it its name: Sometimes love isn’t fireworks, sometimes love just comes softly.
Favourite Movies – The Ultimate Gift
A modern call to service.
This is a very different movie from my last, Ben-Hur. It is a modern-day movie following the transformation of a spoiled young man who is clearly bored, into someone called to service and faith. The catalysts? His dead grandfather and a young girl dying of cancer. Fearlessly confronts loss and the moments that go into grasping faith, without being preachy.
Cat’s Project for Bella – How Much Time?
Now that we’ve got the verse for Bella, Cat needs to decide how big a project she wants.
One of the first questions that must be answered when starting any design is “How much time do I want to devote to this project?” Time limits many design options. If you want something to give tomorrow, there’s no way a large elaborate design will work. If you want beautiful lettering, an intricate image, subtle shading, you’re not going to get it in a bookmark you can complete in an afternoon.
I want to stress here that bigger, time-consuming designs aren’t always better. It can be hard to sustain the effort needed to make it to completion. It is dispiriting to start with high hopes for a project and end up with it sitting half-finished in the closet. It’s best to pick something you can encompass.
Also, you need to consider how the person you are making it for will use it. A big framed piece may not work for…
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Favourite Movies – Ben-Hur
The classic epic on faith.
Amazon.com: Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Edition: Movies & TV.
This is one of my all-time favourite movies. I watch it at least twice a year – at Easter and Christmas. And it amazes me how many Christians I’ve met who have never seen it. I clung to its message even when I was farthest from being a Christian myself.
I’ve heard that people say “It’s called ‘Ben-Hur: A Story of the Christ’ and it isn’t about Christ at all.” I can’t understand that. It’s about God’s will working in the world, about turning the other cheek, about the incredible force of Our Lord when He turned His attention on a man. It’s about faith.
Favourite Movies – Signs
A movie about rediscovering faith…
One of the cool things about M. Night Shyamalan’s movies is that they are often not about what they seem to be on the surface. Or at least, not just about that. Signs is ostensibly an alien horror movie. But it is so much not just that.
It is a movie about faith.
About its loss.
About its rediscovery.
About how hard it is to live without.
After the death of his wife in tragic circumstances, Grahame is determined not to believe any more.
But under pressure, what happens?
NeedlePrayer 