Take 5

I booked in to do a twilight kayak on the Sounds.   I had heard about kayaking, in fact one of my friends raved about it.   So, why not give it a go. Surely it wasn’t that hard. There we were at twilight, a group of 10, adults and children, novices like myself and more experienced folk going out with our guide for a twilight kayak on the Queen Charlotte Sounds.   I was partnered with a young tourist and took the back seat of the tandem kayak – the seat that also had the pedals that controlled the rudder.   Shouldn’t be that hard right?   A few instructions and tips on holding the paddle, of the arm strokes, and about steering and away we went.   So far so good.   Not bad until the Picton ferry moved passed us and the wake from the boat pushed my companion and I into the shore.   With a bit of effort we managed to sort ourselves out and carry on. Seriously, I was making a hash of the whole thing and the magic had rapidly begun to fade. My compani...

There is something warm and comforting about being wrapped in a blanket. To snuggle in, then feel the warmth permeate through you. It’s so relaxing – especially on a cold winter’s day.   When one of my nephews was very small, he had a “blankey” that went everywhere with him – rather like Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoon series. There was no bedtime without his “blankey” and if he was upset at all, “blankey” brought great comfort. It took a long time before “blankey” was left behind. One of the other boys had a very battered bear called Paddy who worked the same “magic”.   The favourite toy or the security blanket make us smile. Yet even though eventually both boys left their comfort symbols behind, I suspect deep inside all of us, even toughened adults,   we continue to seek for a “blankey”, especially when circumstances become stressful.   The desire for comfort and security, the desire to be “wrapped” up in warmth and love is very deep.   We might look t...

When I posted " Shake it Off ", I too was trying to shake off some words and dark thought patterns that were clinging. I knew praise was a powerful antidote for "vipers", but the application was still hard. An hour after posting, I picked up a book by Bill Johnson that was languishing beside my bed. This is what I read...     "Our troubling circumstance may last days, months, or years, instead of just an hour or two, but our approach should be the same: We must declare the goodness and faithfulness of God even in the midst of our trial, before we have an answer.   Why do we have to endure uncertainty? This is a mystery, but the Bible hints at an answer when it gives a spiritual picture of a city called the community of the redeemed, or Zion (see Is 62). Isaiah 60:18 says, "But you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise." In Revelation we see this gate called praise again and discover that is made out of one solid pearl (see R...