>With two major ice storms since the first of December, we've had plenty of opportunity to marvel at the beauty of creation. Dave and I took some pictures one evening last week in Pella's Central Park.And I took some the first morning the sun shone last week. It was beautiful, but Dave has also had … Continue reading >Ice Pix

>Yesterday we had another lovely snowfall. Few pleasures in life are more enjoyable than sitting in a warm house, watching birds at the deck feeders while fluffy white flakes fall. It is especially enjoyable when you know that your family members are safe. The beauty of the red cardinals in the white snow pierces the … Continue reading >So Much Depends

>Our first snow fell the day before Thanksgiving, covering the bleak November landscape with a beautiful blanket of pure white.The first snowfall, making November's mud and grime appear pristine, always reminds me of Christ's atoning sacrifice that makes believers appear whiter than snow in God's eyes. But Christ does more than simply cover up the … Continue reading >Nival Reflections and Narnia

>My brain is in a state of post-wedding numbness. At church on Sunday, I talked to another mother whose daughter had married on Saturday and we agreed that we felt like survivors; we also agreed that we would take a Tylenol PM that night!A good night's rest certainly helps one think more clearly, but I … Continue reading >Post-Wedding Reflections

>It's been a big week! I bought a house for one kid and married off another!On Wednesday, I bought a house on behalf of our son, Kirk, who was in Chicago on business. He didn't see the house until late Friday afternoon. I was relieved to hear him say, "I love it; I can't wait … Continue reading >One Busy Week

>Only five days until my daughter's wedding! Lots of things scheduled this week, which I plan to enjoy.And I signed up this morning for another crazy November of NaNoWriMo!

>I promised myself I would never do this, but one should never say never.I haven't found the time to blog lately because I've been busy. We are knee deep in wedding plans for one of our daughters, and I've been investing time in new work opportunities. I've also been doing some blogging for my family … Continue reading >On being busy…

>My devotions this morning from Ligonier Ministries "Tabletalk" remind me of that beautiful Hebrew word: chesed.Chesed is the concise word communicating the copious concept of God's covenant love and faithfulness. Today's devotions used it to describe how God continued to be with Joseph in prison following the false accusations of Potiphar's wife.It's almost impossible to … Continue reading >Chesed

>Regular readers will recall my earlier assignment to write a pantoum. A pantoum is a formal poem of quatrain stanzas that repeats the second and fourth lines of each stanza in the first and third lines of the next. The concluding quatrain contains the first and third lines of the first stanza as its second … Continue reading >Sojourner

> Rev. Ralph Pontier, who served Synod as Vice Chair, and Rev. Peter Kloosterman (RCNZ) (Photo Credit: Glenda Mathes)It's been more than two weeks since I returned from Synod, and it's time to wrap up this series of reports. This post will finish federative unity issues with the remaining CERCU-related matters, then move into ecumenical … Continue reading >Synod: Wrap Up