Blog: ask God
Posted: December 17, 2024
There are moments and words that impact us profoundly and change our way of thinking and life. One of those times was when best selling author Gordon MacDonald spoke at our church on his book A Resilient Life. What stuck with me was on his chapter of friendships and challenging us to have an “inner circle” of friends who will help us finish well. After his presentation I spent some time with him and we continued that deeply satisfying conversation. The process starts with honest conversations. Within the next week I put Gordon’s words into action. I contacted three friends and arranged to meet them for breakfast once a month. We continued these lovely times of intimately sharing our lives, our joys and disappointments. Around that same time I also asked two other women to join me for a Bible Study and we continued these beautiful connecting times for over…
Posted in: accumulate experiences, adventure, all alone, ask for help, ask God, ask questions, authentic, be a blessing, Best friends, blessings, Christmas joy, circle of friends, companionship, Covid-19, Forgiveness, friends, Friendship, girlfriends, growing old, happiness needs to be shared, honesty, introvert, loneliness, make time for each other, Prayer deepens relationships, relationships, resilience, resilient, spiritual friendships, we are made for relationships, we need each other
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Posted: November 11, 2024
One of the simplest and most powerful ways to cultivate and deepen friendships is to pray together. It’s free. All it costs you is your time and commitment. When people ask me, “Heidi, when and how did you learn and love to pray?” My response is always: “Out of desperation.” Most of us learn to pray out of desperation. Grieving the deaths of two husbands I prayed fearlessly and passionately because I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. That’s why I can pray on the spot, in a group, in front of hundreds of people because I’m not praying to impress , I’m praying to my Abba Father who hears my prayers. We don’t pray to impress or sound smart or holy. For over 10 years, without missing a single month, I’ve been praying with two friends by Skype and now Zoom. One lives in Alabama and one…
Posted in: ask for help, ask God, Christ in us, Come to Jesus, disappointments, don't give up, Friendship, girlfriends, God's love, goodness of God, Intimacy, loneliness, make time for each other, one-another, Prayer, Prayer deepens relationships, Praying divides our burdens, praying with friends, presence of God, relationships, spiritual friendships, we need each other
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Posted: June 10, 2024
We want to be nice girls so we stuff our feelings, paste on a plastic smile and carry on. Inwardly the heart churns and toxic fumes accumulate as we drink our own poison hoping the other person will die. Resentment is the number one killer of relationships, especially marriages. I consider myself an expert on this topic as I learned how to recognize and survive this toxic crisis in my first marriage. I recall how each time I felt resentment, I wanted to pick up a rock and throw it toward my enemy. But because I tried to have harmony in the home I hid the rock (my anger) and put it into a pretty little imaginary box where it would be nice and safe. I was clueless about the dangers of ultimate explosions. I did not know that resentment was: Feeling heartbroken after exerting a great deal of effort…
Posted in: accusations, adversity, angry, Anticipation, anxiety, ask God, Assumptions, betrayal, confront conflict, disappointments, do the hard work, don't give up, Expectations, faulty thinking, Finding Truth, forgive one another, frustrations, grit, healing, honest, Hope, messes, Offenses, Overcoming Struggles, power of words, relationships, Resentment, set free, shame, take care of your heart, Tension, trouble, Understanding each other, worry
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Posted: April 1, 2024
With the world swirling in chaos all around us we need something real and meaningful to hold onto. Something that really works. Before someone dies they have no reason to hold back words of love and wisdom. After all the heard earned wisdom they’ve gleaned in this life, now is the time to say what really works and matters. Before Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins He gave us a priceless gift: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you: (John 14:27). “My peace I give you.” After Jesus’ resurrection and when He met his disciples behind locked doors, He frightened and startled them, thinking He was a ghost. The first words to them out of Jesus’ mouth were: “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:26). There it is again, the gift of peace. That gives me goose bumps, Why is peace such a powerful…
Posted in: anxiety, ask God, chaos, Christ in us, Finding Truth, gift of peace, Overcoming Struggles, pain, Peace, Prayer, priceless gift of peace, take care of your heart, troubles, worry
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Posted: October 7, 2023
When a word keeps showing up I believe God is trying to teach me something. That’s part of the enchantment. Today I was intentional about practicing enchantment. Here’s what is looked like. On my 5 km walk I decided to put away my phone and NOT listen to any sermons or podcasts, I chose to let God enchant me. Let me explain. Today before Canadian Thanksgiving 2023, the day is showing off its glory. It’s 22 degrees Celsius, no clouds in the sky, the trees and foliage are golden yellow and orange and from just the angle the lake is a sparkling diamond. With every step I soak in the extravagant beauty and at times almost overcome with tears. Walking up towards the Mission Hill Winery I encounter 2 beautiful young women who are awkwardly trying to take a selfie. I offer to take their picture, and then have a…
Posted in: ask God, Awe of God', be creative, beauty, beauty and joy, beauty in God's creation, enchantment, glimpse of Heaven, glory of God, God's creation, majesty of God, nature, practice enchantment, presence of God, thanksgiving
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Posted: September 17, 2023
Beware of the deadly 3 “D’s”. It starts with discouragement, catapults into despair and may end up in depression. Some how you’ve ventured into a dark cave and found there was no light to guide you out. Your aching body feels heavy and fatigued. Your mind is ruminating, you can’t focus and you keep chewing over the scene of your mess, failure, loss or disappointment. I know every one of you reading this has experienced at least one of the deadly “D’s”. It’s a horrible place to be in, and we need to help one another getting out of our cave. That’s where you come in. We all need to take part in being God’s hands and feet on earth to lift up those going through one of the 3 “D’s”. If you are the one going through one of the “D”s right now, I pray that someone reading this…
Posted in: adversity, ask for help, ask God, be a blessing, caves, companionship, cover each other's backs, darkness, depression, despair, disappointment, don't give up, Encouragement, failures, faulty thinking, feeling bad, Finding Truth, Friendship, Making Wise Choices, one-another, Overcoming Struggles, power of words, Prayer, rescue, seasons of darkness, self worth, show up, we need each other
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Posted: August 21, 2023
If you knew you only had thirty days to live, what is one thing in your life that you would stop right now?” This provoking question started a lively discussion amongst my group of friends. After much animated banter, one main theme came into focus; stop the life-sucking “shoulds”out of our daily activities. We agreed that many of us cave into guilt-induced obligations. We are afraid that we will disappoint people or they might not like us. The discussion became livelier as we tried to determine the obligations we needed to let go so that we could enjoy the vibrant, fulfilling life that Jesus came to model for us. There is one prevailing statement I hear these days: “I am so tired!”It is a proven statistic that today we sleep 1-1/2 hours less that we did one hundred years ago.[i] More motor vehicle accidents are being reported because both men…
Posted in: anxiety, ask for help, ask God, chaos, Conflict, each day has enough troubles of its own, Encouragement, Expectations, Freedom from Busyness, frustrations, grace, live one day at a time, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, perfectionism, re-evaluate, Say no, should, trust God for today
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Posted: January 15, 2023
Some days life feels like this doesn’t it? Immersed in fog, without clarity and everything seems eerie and quiet. Especially when Covid has hopefully seen it’s last visit, and there are hopes, dreams and expectations for the coming year. How do you find your way? Me? I want to be like the rhinoceros and zebra. Let me explain. I want to be like the rhinoceros and zebra. Rhinoceros – Though there no official statistics on how far a rhino can see, from research it is estimated that they can’t distinguish between a man and a tree at a distance of 20 meters. How is that good? It’s similar to being in a fog, if we can’t see what’s ahead of us, we don’t need to worry. The Bible tells us: “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own” (Matthew 6:34). This…
Posted in: accumulate experiences, adversity, Anticipation, anxious, ask God, circumstances, Conflict, darkness, decisions, don't give up, each day has enough troubles of its own, Expectations, Fear, focus, foggy life, frustrations, gloomy days, God's promises, Hearing God, Hope, hurting world, live one day at a time, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, rhinoceros, seasons of darkness, step into the future, trouble, trust, trust God for today, worry, zebra stripes
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Posted: May 15, 2022
An article on weariness is what brought me to tears. Whoa…what brought on those tears? I don’t think I feel weary why did this impact me so profoundly? I realized this article hit a trigger and I recognized my spirit was weary. Anyone knowing me would quickly respond by: “Well Heidi, you have too much on your plate, you’re always on the move, no wonder weariness has set in.” But that’s not it. My personality and passions do propel me to add many wonderful things to my calendar, but this is not a physical weariness. But this is not a physical weariness. For two years we’ve hung on by our fingernails waiting for Covid to be over. And yes for the most part we’re back to normal but there is underlying and lingering angst and anger. Too many of my friends are sick right now from Covid and stress. Angry…
Posted in: anxiety, ask God, circumstances, Conflict, Covid-19, cry, disappointments, do the right thing, don't give up, Encouragement, focus, God's creation, Hearing God, hiking, listen, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, re-evaluate, resilience, rest, tender soul care, weariness
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Posted: April 10, 2022
It’s been years since I attended an “in home” Baby Shower, but I was honoured to be at one this past weekend. Covid sabotaged so many celebrations but once again we are able and privileged to come into each other’s homes and celebrate with joy and laughter. And there was an abundance of that. That’s what the anticipation of new life evokes. Joy, dreams, hopes and plans. We didn’t talk about messy diapers and all night feedings, but focused on the smell, softness and cuddliness of a tiny miracle creation. I also got to hold a four-week old baby, and what is it about the sweetness of the smell? The sweetness of holding a baby! Sunday morning as I drove into church I noticed the magnolias trees were in full bloom. Oh my heart, the beauty of the pink/fuchsia being a sign of the emergence of a new season. It…
Posted in: adversity, Anticipation, ask God, beauty and pain coexist, Christ in us, disappointments, each day has enough troubles of its own, happy heart, laughter, new birth, Overcoming Struggles, suffering, waiting
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