The Church Mouse

Love as strong as death (Song 8:6-7) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.  (Ephesians 5: 1,2) This has been an “interesting” week, hasn’t it my dear Bethel family.  Our world is slowly opening up.  We have all been able to enjoy visits in person with people that we haven’t seen in a long time.  We can eat indoors in restaurants.  We can visit elderly people in assisted living. Yet, at the same time, everything seems oddly … Read more

“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9Why have … Read more

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.  When one of my children was a toddler, I signed her up to participate in a research study on lying with Queen’s University and the Child Development Centre.  I was absolutely sure that my child, in all of their fair-haired golden gloriousness, would blow the researchers away with the depth of their innocence and integrity. Oh how wrong I was. My child ‘lied like a rug’. I was mortified.  The researcher had to spend … Read more

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, (Psalm 104:1)   Now, don’t hang on Nothin’ lasts forever but the earth and sky It slips away And all your money won’t another minute buy Dust in the wind All we are is dust in the wind (From “Dust in the Wind” by Kerry Livgren)   That was some thunderstorm we had the other night.  I knew it was going to be serious when the red ‘Emergency Alert’ came over my cell phone.  One of the cracks of … Read more

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31 Waiting. It seems that I spend much of my time waiting. Especially with Covid. I wait in line at the Grocery store or the Pharmacy. I keep my feet firmly on the ‘wait’ stickers telling me the distance that I have from the next person. I’m waiting for my second vaccination so that I am “fully vaccinated”.  (Tomorrow if all goes well). I’m waiting for … Read more

Psalm 94:19 19 And when I was burdened     with worries,     you comforted me     and made me feel secure.   Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.   This morning, I got up and was casually petting Gabby, the bigger of my two ‘muppets’, and I picked a flea off her head.   Ewwwwww.   I really hate fleas.  Just as soon as I got that flea picked off and crushed, I picked … Read more

Job 38, Vs 1-7 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man,     I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?     Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!     Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk,     or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together     and all … Read more

  Advice from the Wicked. Psalm 1: 1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. This week, in a moment of boredom, I found myself online looking at new lawn furniture.  Its not like … Read more

Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. ~ Frederick Buechner – originally published in ‘Wishful Thinking’. The New York Times recently published an article proposing that because of the health care restrictions of the Pandemic, that many of us were experience life as ‘languishing’.  Languishing is considered an emotional state somewhere between depression and, well ‘flourishing’ and is a state of being where we are aimless, unmotivated and just kind of generally ‘blah’.  As if we can’t live … Read more