Reflections on friendship
I had never before appreciated friendships as much as I did during my recent health crisis. After a major heart operation that took eight hours, followed by two days in a... »
Gabriel García Valdivieso
Contemplating the scriptures
My wife and I dedicate 30-45 minutes each morning to study the Bible, read a Christian devotional book, and review verses we have memorized. This time of study and reflec... »
The greater victory
Much is made these days about learning from failure and defeat. Setbacks are good because they make us reflect on our life and what we need to change, and they drive us t... »
Kindness begets kindness
Consideration and courtesy never go out of style. We can’t underestimate the power behind a simple act of thoughtfulness. The other day, my wife and I went out for lunch... »
Aging and changing
There is often a misconception that the older we get, the less malleable and willing to change we are. I’ve been seeing that it is often quite the contrary! As we age, ou... »
12 prayers for the New Year
Prayer for new beginnings: Dear God, thank You for a new year and for Your care and blessings throughout the past year. I bring to You my hopes and plans, my uncompleted... »
Dying grace
In this stage of my life, the subject of death seems to pop up more frequently than before, and it’s not always a happy thought. As Christians, we know that death isn’t t... »
Last Christmas…
Christmas 2020 looked like it was shaping up into a bleak affair. The newspapers were swamped with letters from people mourning for past days when they were able to get t... »
The need for love
“In the world of pain there is a need for love, a real, real need for love… Love your brother… a need of love, a need of heart.” These words, translated from the famous s... »
Getting to know Jesus
In my quest to know Jesus better, I have come to the simple conclusion that reading the Gospels regularly and trying to put His teachings and example into practice is the... »
An ecological grain of sand
When it comes to the environment and climate change, it’s easy to mentally block out the topic entirely and decide that there’s nothing we can do about it—or foist the re... »
New year, new soul
K. Chesterton once said, “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose, new feet, a new backbone, n... »
Prayer secrets
In his book A Year of Living Prayerfully, Jared Brock describes in a humorous but poignant way his journey around the world to discover and explore how different believer... »