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the sanctified muse
Tag Archives: joy
The Kindness of God
A close friend sent me an article that posed the question: Does our sin prevent the Holy Spirit from moving in our lives? The question is a difficult one. The answer is bound to lie somewhere between two cultural extremes.
Trust
I just finished watching The Impossible, a new film in which a youngish couple played by Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts bring their three boys to Indonesia and settle into a coastal bungalow just in time for the 2004 tsunami―the … Continue reading
Posted in Acceptance, Trust
Tagged adversity, calamity, cataclysm, confidence, death, disaster, good, hardship, joy, life, loss, love, pain, peace, redemption, rescue, salvation, sorrow, sovereignty, triumph, trust, victory
2 Comments
Unconditional Surrender
It was around 10 pm when Bill’s headlights swept through my yard and across the front of the house as he was turning into the driveway. He couldn’t pull all the way in since I was already halfway down the … Continue reading
Posted in Suffering, Surrender, Trust
Tagged anxiety, believe, blessings, confidence, depression, despair, despondency, distrust, hope, hopelessness, idols, joy, mistrust, optimism, pain, pessimism, prayer, renewal, surrender, trust
4 Comments
Accidental Blessings, Part 3
I made a new friend at the Vancouver Goodwill last week. I was taking care of some dull piece of business at the counter when an employee I had never met, Greg, came by and noticed my tee shirt. I … Continue reading
Posted in Accidental Blessings
Tagged accidental blessings, blessings, commitment, conciliatory, follow-through, fortuitous, friendship, generosity, happenstance, healing, joy, kindness, love, race, race relations, racism, random, reconciliation, social awareness, unexpected, virtue, Wisdom, word
3 Comments
A Christmas to Remember
It almost didn’t happen. When I first got the Christmas caroling bug in 2001, I had no inkling of the obstacles I would have to surmount to make the thing happen. For various reasons, the American custom of Christmas caroling … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas
Tagged Christmas, Christmas caroling, Christmas carols, festive, good cheer, joy, love, season, singing
2 Comments
Apple For the Teacher
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” –Henry Brooks Adams A chance round of e-mails kicked off by an old friend has put me back in touch with one of my favorite high school English … Continue reading
Accidental Blessings
“Coincidence is when God acts anonymously.” –Unknown “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Posted in Accidental Blessings
Tagged beauty, blessings, fun, grace, happenstance, joy, random, unexpected
1 Comment
Lauryn
I met my niece Lauryn in the summer of 2004. I wasn’t expecting any more pleasant surprises at the time; I was enjoying quite a bounty already. I had resumed lucrative employment at the Captain Cook in April and was … Continue reading
Bella
“A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” –Carl Sandburg I was with a friend this afternoon having one of those relaxed, free-floating Sunday conversations. We got around to discussing the possibility of an outing to an … Continue reading
How About That Apostle Paul!
I did a bit of reading in Romans today. I usually feel more than a little intimidated when I read Paul’s soaring epistles. His letters read like he lived his life continuously trembling with excitement over what God is doing … Continue reading
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