God Help Me

I was praying. I don’t remember what. Maybe a bless-my-devotions-and-help-me-focus prayer. Or a help-me-get-my-life-together prayer. Whatever it was, as I thought the words—perhaps with a bit of dutifulness prompting them?—something occurred to me dimly at the back of my mind… …was this a God, help me prayer or a God help me prayer? That little

Rambling Reflections on Another Year Round the Sun

You may have noticed there was no post Monday… yeah, that’s because I was waiting for today. It’s my birthday. Sometimes I wrote stuff for my birthday. I’ve shared stuff like 18 Things I Learned in 2019 and 22 Things // A Birthday Reflection. In the past, birthdays have been really hard for me. My

Hello, 2024, the Year of Giving

I know, we’re a bit into 2024 by now, but I didn’t want to swamp y’all on the first week. I’ve picked a word for the year for a couple years now, and I always go with the first idea that comes to mind, because somehow it feels more… God-inspired then. ;P I don’t know.

Goodbye, 2023, Year of Restoration

Two posts in one week—I’m sorry. But I didn’t get these written during December. Looking back on 2023, I don’t really know what to say. You know the stereotypical dream where you’re frozen and can’t move? Well, I feel like I’ve just been frozen in time for the past 2-3 years, like I haven’t changed

Put Aside the Map

Have you ever seen the 1997 film “Winnie the Pooh’s Most Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin”? That was one of my favourites as a kid. I thought it was hilarious. As an adult, I love it even more. It’s probably my top favourite film, to be honest. And it’s not because I haven’t

God’s Got It—& If Not…

I have a saying that I repeat to myself in moments of anxiety. Sometimes I only have to say it once, sometimes I have to remind myself a couple times. But each time it’s brought me peace as it repeats to me the Truth:  “God’s got this—and if not, it’s gonna be okay.”  At first

New Dreams // Guest Post

NOTE FROM KATJA: Springtime in Surrey releases next week! Now’s your chance to preorder the book if you’ve been wanting to! This article is the third in a trilogy. Please visit Andrea’s blog, Writing to Inspire, to read the first two articles, “Lost Dreams” and “Elusive Dreams.” When we finally lay down our lost and

On Canada Day

This was supposed to post on July 1, Canada Day. Stuff happened. Sorry! Canada. Centuries of men and women of different ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds building a home. Ours is a history of dedication and perseverance and courage. We have been up against so many unique difficulties, we have failed often, but we may be

The Waiting Season

I started Bible School this year and began an Old Testament Survey, which required reading all of Genesis and Exodus in about four weeks. Reading it so quickly, like a novel, I noticed things I have never noticed before, but I came away with one especial message. God’s plan requires waiting. When Abraham was called

Hello, 2023, the Year of Restoration

It’s been 2023 for 11 days. I haven’t been charmed, to be honest. We’ve have wave after wave of troubles and bad news. I’ve been utterly swamped and stressed. But yesterday in my devotions I read, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof,” and I’m hoping it’s true for 2023 too. I completely

Goodbye, 2022, Year of Revival

It’s December 30 as I write this, 4:45 in the evening. In a few minutes we’ll be doing our family New Year’s supper. Tomorrow, December 31, we’ll celebrate Christmas with my extended family. Then Sunday is January 1. That feels very clean and aesthetic—a new year, a new month, a new week, starting all at

Are the High Places Removed?

Have you done a Bible-in-a-year challenge? I’ve been doing it for two to three years now and it’s been amazing. I had a plan on YouVersion, which has audio, so I would play the audio and listen as I did chores. It was a chronological challenge, so I was reading through 1st & 2nd Kings

Stop Waiting for Life

I got my permit several years ago, as a nineteen- or twenty-year-old (really, those years seem light ages away now, thanks to everything that’s happened since…). Of course, that wasn’t my idea. My parents signed me up for the classes, knowing otherwise I’d never take the plunge, because I never do unless someone shoves me

Losing to Win

This summer, I’ve been pondering the meaning/reason of life a lot. At the marriage of a friend in July, I realized that, to quote my journal, “Marriage is … the coming together of two people to serve God together—him, whatever way God called him; and me, helping him. It’s not about me… it’s about serving

It’s Easy to be a Pharisee

It is not, however, easy to write this post. It’s been sitting on my mind for a while, and sitting on my heart for longer, and then sitting on my list-of-posts-to-write, and finally sitting as an open tab on my desktop, waiting for me to finally speak up and admit it. You see, I’m a

O Canada // A Tribute on Canada’s 155th Birthday

“Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom…” It’s been 155 years since 1 July 1867, when the

Maybe It’s More Than Rules

This is a post I’d meant to post back in early 2022 but didn’t get to, so it’s rather old. However, it explains one of the biggest things I learned this year… « I’ve been following all the rules for ‘building a great relationship with God’ but I haven’t found You. » I wrote that today

Can We Skip to the Good Part Please?

There was a trending audio on Instagram reels a while ago. A voice would sing, “Can we skip to the good part please?” and the reel creator would slap their hand against the camera for the next slide to show “the good part.” But one reel stuck to me. (You might want to mute the

Channels Only

I’ve mentioned how I’ve been struggling lately. Many things going on in my head, yet too unprocessed to speak or write—obviously a very difficult state for a writer (and talker) to be in. But tonight I was able to talk to a lovely friend who is oh-so-good at drawing me out and making me talk,

Enough

This quote just jumped out at me recently: “While the world seemed to be whispering ‘you’re not quite enough’ into my ears, you might have felt like you heard ‘you’re just a bit too much.’” Holley Gerth, Fierce-Hearted I’ve always been “too much.” People say it with a loving smile and shake of their head,