Baby Feet

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Lynn

My grandbaby, Jaxon has recently discovered his toes.  With delight he grabs at his feet and then with the flexibility only a baby can muster at five months of age, he puts his big toe in his mouth and sucks contentedly.  When I laugh at his antics he smiles with his eyes up at me, but still keeps a firm grip on his toes.

My grandson has perfect feet.  I know, I know, I’m a biased grandma, I think everything about my grandbaby is perfect 🙂 but truly Jaxon’s feet are perfect.  They do not have the calluses or the scuffed heals yet.  His toenails are not jagged, there are no “hammer toes” in the bunch.  His toes are soft, kissable to me and apparently they must taste good to him.  There are no miles traveled on his feet yet, nor has he discovered a like or dislike for brand name footwear.  He wears the tiny shoes his mother puts on his perfect feet, but I suspect that he would rather go barefoot…easier to suck on his toes that way!

In the next few months Jaxon will discover that he can stand on his feet.  That his feet will bear his weight, and as we have warned his young mother repeatedly, once he discovers how fast his feet can move after that, her life will never be the same again.  He’ll put miles and miles on his feet (as will my daughter trying to keep up with him!)  He’ll discover that carpets are soft to walk on, but sharp rocks aren’t.  He’ll step on his first thistle, and feel the sting of his first stubbed toe, but knowing how determined he is even now as a baby, after the tears stop, he’ll be back on his feet and running again.

His feet won’t be as perfect once he starts using them every day to run, to dance, to climb, to explore, to swim, to play soccer, basketball or hockey.  As he grows, he’ll use his feet to walk places I may never see, go to places I may never go, and his feet will crack and bleed at times because even though his designer sneakers may protect his feet somewhat, the roads he might travel may be hard on his feet.  He’ll stumble, he’ll fall, and as much as his mother, father and, yes, grandma, might like to protect his perfect feet, sometimes he’ll trip up, and we won’t always be there to catch him.

Then there will come a day when Jaxon and everyone else around him will discover that his feet are beautiful again.  Oh sure, his feet may bear the scars, calluses and foot odour that comes from a lifetime of usage but with each footfall I pray his feet will always walk in service to the Lord.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)

Prepare your feet for life’s journey, sweet Jaxon.  They are just perfect!

Posted in Family Life, Inspiration & Devotion, Proverbs 16:9 - Journey Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Canadian Christian Writing Award Winners!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Lynn

Since I congratulated the winners and finalists in the Carol and Christy Awards, I thought it only fair to congratulate the winners and finalists in the Canadian Christian Writing Awards.  Twenty-nine of Canada’s top writers were awarded on June 15th at The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Awards for books they published in 2010, along with 18 awards for periodical writing.

Book—Academic

Winner—James K. A. Smith of Grand Rapids, Mich., for Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

Award of Merit—Deborah C. Bowen of Hamilton, Ont., for Stories of the Middle Space: Reading the Ethics of Postmodern Realisms (McGill-Queen’s University Press)

Award of Merit—James R. Payton Jr. of Mount Hope, Ont., for Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings (IVP Academic)

Book—Apologetics

Winner—Dr. Grant Richison of Saint Cloud, Fl., for Certainty—A Place to Stand (Castle Quay Books)

Book—Biblical Studies

Winner—Robert Russell of Camas, Wash., for One Precious Pearl: God’s Design for His Church (Infinity Publishing)

Award of Merit—David Sawler of Glace Bay, N.S., for The Disciple: God’s  Blueprint (Word Alive Press)

Book—Children

Winner (Tie)—Connie Brummel Crook of Peterborough, Ont., for No Small Victory (Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited)

Winner (Tie)—Marla Stewart Konrad of Oakville, Ont., for Just Like You (Zonderkidz)

Book—Christian Leadership

Winner—Eleanor Shepherd of Pointe Claire, P.Q., for More Questions than Answers: Sharing Faith by Listening (Resource Publications)

Award of Merit—Karen Stiller of Port Perry, Ont., and Willard Metzger of Drayton, Ont., for Going Missional: Conversations with 13 Canadian Churches Who Have Embraced Missional Life (Word Alive Press)

Book—Christian Living

Winner—Brian Stiller of Newmarket, Ont., for You Never Know What You Have Till You Give It Away (Castle Quay Books)

Book—Culture

Winner—W. Harold Fuller of Stouffville, Ont., for Sun Like Thunder: Following Jesus on Asia’s Spice Road (Centre for Contemporary Christianity)

Award of Merit—Karen Stiller of Port Perry, Ont., and Willard Metzger of Drayton, Ont., for Going Missional: Conversations with 13 Canadian Churches who Have Embraced Missional Life(Word Alive Press)

Book—General Readership

Winner (Tie)—Tim Huff of Toronto, Ont., for Dancing With Dynamite: Celebrating Against the Odds (Castle Quay Books)

Winner (Tie)—Denis Shackel of Grand Bend, Ont., and Tara Bradacs of Toronto, Ont., for Five Seconds at a Time: How Leaders Can Make the Impossible Possible (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd)

Winner (Tie)—Elaine A. Small of Belleville, Ont., for Priests in the Attic (Author House)

Book—Inspirational/Devotional

Winner—Stacey Gleddiesmith of Vancouver, B.C., forWelcoming the Stranger: Readying Ourselves for Christmas(Regent College Publishing)

Book—Instructional

Winner—Tony Gentilucci of Mississauga, Ont., for Stop Preaching and Start Communicating: Communication Principles Preachers Can Learn From Television (Castle Quay Books)

Book—Life Stories

Winner—Denis Shackel of Grand Bend, Ont., and Tara Bradacs of Toronto, Ont., for Five Seconds at a Time: How Leaders Can Make the Impossible Possible (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd)

Award of Merit—Marshall Lawrence of Echo Bay, Ont., for The World at My Door (Guardian Books)

Book—Relationship

Winner—Mary A. Kassian of Sherwood Park, Alta., for Girls Gone Wise—In a World Gone Wild (Moody Publishing)

Book—Special

Winner (Tie)—Marianne Jones of Thunder Bay, Ont., for Here, on the Ground (Friesen Press)

Winner (Tie)—Laurie Lamb of Hawkestone, Ont., for The Way of Ducks: A Cottage Devotional (Word Alive Press)

Award of Merit—Kathleen Gibson of Ebenezer, Sask., for Practice by Practice: The art of everyday faith (Word Alive Press)

Book—Young Adult

Winner—Cynthia d’Entremont of Lakeview, N.S., for Unlocked (Word Alive Press)

Novel—Contemporary

Winner—Donna Dawson of St. Marys, Ont., for Rescued (Word Alive Press)

Novel—Futuristic/Fantasy

Winner—Cynthia d’Entremont of Lakeview, N.S., for Unlocked (Word Alive Press)

Novel—Historical

Winner—Janette Oke of Olds, Alta., and Davis Bunn for The Hidden Flame (Bethany House)

Award of Merit—Shawn J. Pollett of Golden Valley, Ont., forWhat Rough Beast (Word Alive Press)

Novel—Romance

Winner—M. D. Meyer of Norway House, Man., for Jasmine: The Group—Week One (Word Alive Press)

Article—Blog Series

Winner—Lynn Dove of Cochrane, Alta., for “The Author of Life” and “Even Though I Walk Through the Valley”  (lynndove.wordpress.com)

Article—Children/Young Adult

Winner—Corinne Mordaunt of Toronto, Ont., for “In the Beginning” (Nature Friend)

Article—General Readership (articles that explain or encourage faith for mainstream readers)

Winner—Thomas Froese of Kampala, Uganda for “There’s Lots to Learn About Life, Death from Developing World” (The Hamilton Spectator)

Award of Merit—Thomas Froese of Kampala, Uganda for “By Losing Fun We Risk Much More” (The Hamilton Spectator)

Article—Inspirational/Devotional

Winner—Jack Dueck of Waterloo, Ont., for “The Burning Bush or the Plastic Mulberry” (Institute for Theology and the Church)

Article—Long Feature

Winner—Donna Mann of Holstein, Ont., for “Mother’s Day—A Day to Celebrate, But How?” (Christianity.ca)

Award of Merit—Jack Dueck of Waterloo, Ont., for “The Burning Bush or the Plastic Mulberry” (Institute for Theology and the
Church)

Award of Merit—Jayne Self of Toronto, Ont., for “Ghana: Boogie to the Front” (Presbyterian Record)

Article—Personal Experience

Winner—Ella Sailor of Elbow, Sask., for “I Can’t Find Him” (Inscribed)

Article—Profile/Human Interest

Winner—Jack Dueck of Waterloo, Ont., for “A Tale of Two Trees” (Canadian Mennonite)

Article—Review

Winner—Violet Nesdoly of Langley, B.C., for “Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Parents, Pastors, and Friends by Mark A. Yarhouse, PsyD” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Article—Short Feature

Winner—Marcy Kennedy of Wallaceburg, Ont., for “Dying to be Beautiful: The high cost of believing the lie” (testimony)

Column—Single

Winner—Kurt Armstrong of Winnipeg, Man., for “Jesus Loves Your Penis, Son” (Geez Magazine)

Award of Merit—Stacey Gleddiesmith of Vancouver, B.C., for “My God, My God, Why? Understanding the Lament Psalms” (Reformed Worship)

Column—Series

Winner—Kathleen Gibson of Ebenezer, Sask., for “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Like Mom” and “What About that Dead Robin?” (Yorkton This Week)

Poetry

Winner—Alvin G. Ens of Abbotsford, B.C., for “Blossom Blessing” (Rejoice, Mennonite Publishing)

Scripts and
Screenplays

Winner—Terrie Todd of Portage la Prairie, Man., for “Once More with Passion” (Eldridge Publishing)

Song Lyrics

Winner—Kelita Haverland of Mississauga, Ont., for “Deep Dark Secret” (Heart & Soul Music)

 

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Ever Have One of Those Days?

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Lynn

One of my favourite children’s books is “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day“.  The plot line is simple:

From the moment he wakes up with gum in his hair, things just don’t go right for poor Alexander. When Alexander gets out of bed, he trips on the skateboard and drops his sweater into the sink while the water is running and at breakfast, his brothers, Anthony and Nick reach into their cereal boxes and find amazing prizes while Alexander ends up with just cereal.

In the car, on the way to school , he is “scrunched” and he doesn’t get a window seat.  At school the teacher criticizes him for his “invisible castle” drawing and his mother forgets to put dessert in his lunch.

After school, at the dentist, he is the only one with a cavity.  His foot is slammed in an elevator.  He doesn’t get the running shoes he wants.

Even at home his day doesn’t improve when he’s served lima beans for dinner (which he hates), there is kissing on TV (which he also hates) and finally he has to wear his railroad train pajamas to bed (and, you guessed it, he hates his railroad train pajamas).  No wonder Alexander wants to move to Australia!

The book ends with his mother assuring him that everybody has bad days, even people who live in Australia.

Ever have one of those days?  How ’bout one of those weeks?  Months?  Years?

We went camping last weekend.  It was a wonderful time to get away and on the last day I got up from my chair and felt something “snap” in my knee.  A visit to the doctor confirmed that I had torn some ligaments in my knee.  He told me to elevate, ice, and stay off of the leg for at least a week.  Unfortunately that put me down for the count to teach at VBS (Vacation Bible School) this year.  I LOVE VBS and it would only be the second time in over twenty-five years that I haven’t been involved with VBS.  That sort of bummed me out.

Of course the weather just happens to be the nicest it could possibly be and I am stuck in a recliner, elevating, icing, and staying off my leg…indoors.  I feel restless and I’m having just a little bit of a “whoa is me” party at all the fun I’m missing.  Then God puts it all into perspective (as He usually does) when I start whining and complaining, bringing to mind those dear ones who are struggling far more than I could even imagine today.

One of my friends is having mastectomy surgery today.  Another is undergoing more chemo treatments because her cancer has returned.  One of my son’s best friends is laid up for six weeks with a broken knee cap (a soccer accident).  Another dear friend just lost her mother-in-law, another friend is grieving the loss of a dear aunt.  Here I am bemoaning the fact that I have a sore knee when others around me are struggling so.

My son posted on his facebook wall the other day that “your additude determines your laditude.”  All that registered with me was that he had incorrectly spelled “attitude” and “latitude” and I called him on that.  Made fun of him a little even.  I didn’t even ponder to think about the wisdom of the words (misspelled or not).  (Sorry Brett).

According to Scripture your (my) attitude towards life, circumstances and towards all people should be like the Lord’s (Gal. 5:22-23).

I definitely needed an “additude” adjustment and God pointed that out to me today.

 

    

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