Dec 31, 2023 –
Ruth was a true Minnesotan girl. Born Ruth Marie Bauer in St. Paul on August 5, 1951, she grew up on a small farm southwest of Minneapolis and recounted stories of walking - and riding a horse - to school in the winter snows and helping her father on
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Jul 30, 2023 –
Ever heard of a white rainbow? Better yet ever seen one? I haven’t and only just came across the fact that they even exist.
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Jun 24, 2023 –
A friend recently pointed me to a short You Tube video by N.T. Wright which I had not run across before. It was an encouragement to pray the Psalms. Though knowing many Christian saints of earlier generations have done so, I had never been able to ge
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May 27, 2023 –
The U.S. Surgeon General has just recently issued a health advisory stating that Americans are suffering an epidemic of loneliness and isolation; and warning that those feelings can take a real and measurable physical and mental toll.
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Apr 27, 2023 –
As believers and followers of Jesus, we treasure the concept of faith. Every so often on this journey I find myself having to reconsider this word faith and I suspect that is a pattern which will continue.
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Mar 16, 2023 –
There is an oft repeated phrase in the New Testament and in many of our cherished hymns that goes something like “to share in his sufferings.” (Phil. 3:10) or “to know You in Your sufferings.”
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Feb 25, 2023 –
Ever felt life has left you topsy-turvy, uprooted, or cast adrift from time to time?
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Jan 16, 2023 –
2023 has arrived! The Boxing Day Sales have given over to the Back to School Sales and the new year is off and running.
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Dec 15, 2022 –
As we lean into our friend Jesus, the Reason for the season, may we slow down enough to be alerted to those people and given the word of encouragement they need to hear in this season of hope in a despairing world.
Enjoy a blessed, safe and happy Ch
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Nov 23, 2022 –
Recently online I saw the most endearing clip of a very young baby valiantly ‘carrying on a conversation’ telling his parents all about something. Most of us remember back to that adorable stage where those beautiful big eyes are locked on your face
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Oct 7, 2022 –
God being the Master Gardener of our spiritual growth. And as I rolled that around in my head, it occurred to me that God never takes a ‘cutting’ as it were from us for his own convenience, to make it easier for him to nurture the fruit as it grows.
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Sep 20, 2022 –
This past weekend we had an interesting duo of outings to enjoy: we strolled through a local sanctuary as they celebrated 70 years in our town and we went up to ‘the big smoke’ (Brisbane) for a wonderfully talented presentation of Mendelssohn’s Elija
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Aug 2, 2022 –
While chatting with a friend recently, I was pointed to the words of a Tracy Dartt hymn proclaiming a truth I now know in a much less abstract way -- Jesus never leaves us alone whether in the depths or the heights of this roller coaster of human lif
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Jul 2, 2022 –
Have you ever run across a scripture you memorized years ago and have it slap you in the face with the fact that you haven’t fully updated your interpretation of it recently?? That happened to me the other day…the text was Matthew 6:33—many of us al
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Jun 2, 2022 –
There was a song years ago that crooned “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone” which many may remember. It actually comes from a longer poem by Ella Wheeler called Solitude written in 1883. Part of which intones:
Laugh, and
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May 5, 2022 –
As we review and absorb anew each year the truths in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can often be struck in a new way by something we’ve long known. For me this year, it was Jesus’ very first reaction on rising from the dead. *John r
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Mar 14, 2022 –
Floods, fires, pandemic, wars and rumours of wars—the world has been a rather dark place these last few weeks. It can be difficult not to be downhearted in such times.
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Feb 11, 2022 –
The account of Peter’s calling to be Jesus’ disciple is a wonderful miraculous story, remembered for that load of fish breaking the nets and nearly swamping both the fishing boats. One writer invited readers to look at Luke 5 from another angle: a
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Jan 10, 2022 –
The year we thought might never end has finally gone and here’s to a new year, which to date seems a continuation of the same. But may we all find more joy in the journey and experience a deeper confidence in our ongoing relationship with Jesus...
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Nov 15, 2021 –
Haven’t we all had plenty of waiting practice this past year? Waiting for the premier’s daily report…waiting for the lockdown to be announced…waiting for the borders to be lifted…waiting for that long-delayed visit to the hairdresser…waiting for Aus
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Oct 31, 2021 –
Like many of you, I have lost people in the last eighteen months and have been unable to personally be with friends and family to grieve, honour and remember together. Whether in person or in virtual format, the loss is real, painful and can emerge
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Sep 7, 2021 –
As we ease into spring, the weather softens, the birds outside our breakfast window chirp a little louder and new green shoots start to appear. Seasonally it is the time for new beginnings and hope.
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Aug 6, 2021 –
August is a turning point for me—no more excuses! I will finally have to admit, having fought it for several years, that I am truly a senior citizen. Once one’s eighth decade looms, it is hard to pretend otherwise! Hopefully one of the trade-offs w
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May 14, 2021 –
Hello again and here we are into May already—the year is flying by. We have delayed our next Ladies Link Up until June since there is already a national Zoom service on the 23rd of May. See you all then!
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Mar 21, 2021 –
Hello dear friends,
Welcome to our Grace Communion International Women’s Ministry page.
Already the second quarter of the year is well and truly underway. As I write, everywhere in Australia has been able to safely lift many of the...
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