When people congratulate me on how my children turned out, it actually upsets me. Comments like, “You must be a godly parent,” although nice to hear, is far from the truth. The reality is it is by the grace of God and to a lesser extent, the influence of the parents. Don’t get me wrong,…
“Jeremiah, slow down… watch where you are going!” This is a phrase that I use quite often when I am out with our grandchildren. Like most kids, our grandson tends to focus on the things around him and not what is in front of him. As a parent and now grandparent, I know that children…
A couple of years ago, a group of us got together with the intention of sponsoring a refugee family from Syria to come to Canada. The process had many ups and downs with potential families lined up to come only to have their immigration fall through. Finally, after much prayer and patience, a family arrived…
I grew up in a culture of shame. That meant putting on a mask was essential. Image mattered because you didn’t want to bring shame on yourself but especially upon your family. Therefore, failure was not an option, the truth became subjective and honesty became situational. One of the things I love about the Bible…
One of the most important things for any believer to understand is how fear and shame impact our identity. Being a part of a culture where these two facets are often demonstrated in an unwillingness to risk because of the possibility of failure and losing face, I understand first-hand how paralyzing this can be and…